Stranger 2: Pain is not for Gain
by 2pinkstar and 7blackberry
Summary: Troy Bolton didn't know that one quick phone call would change his life forever. It sends him into a deep depression that makes Gabriella relive the past all over again. Will Gabriella help him out of his depression or will their marriage be in jeopardy?.
1. Chapter 1

**Stranger 2: Pain is not for Gain.**

**Disclaimer: We do not own anything**

**But the story and a few unfamiliar**** characters.**

**A/N 2pinkstar: Hey, I'm back and better then ever. I know You don't to read me rant on and on but I just wanted to give some thanks to all my reviewers, alerts, subscribers who read my Stranger and made it really successful in the first one.I also wanted to give a huuuggeee special thanks to Samantha1024 for co-writing this story For me….you rock!. Second to the last I also should suggest you should read her story Tears of a wildcat, its like one of the best stories I ever read, I'll put up the link to her story as soon as I can. Lastly we really hope the story will be successful as the first one. Enjoy!!**

The sun brightened the room, awakening the couple from their slumber. Troy released his arms from around Gabriella, sat up, and stretched them out, yawning. Gabriella sat up, her hair in a disarray.

"Did I ever tell you that you wake up even more beautiful than when you went to sleep" he said touching the side of her face. She chuckled and shook her head.

"Yes Troy, every morning" she said chuckling, getting off of the bed and walking into the bathroom in their room. While Troy stayed and made their bed.

"You're taking the kids to school today right?" she called out from the bathroom.

"It's their first day, I thought we'd do that together" he replied.

"I did too but I promised one of my students I'd be there early. But don't worry I'm picking them up" she said walking back into the room getting a concealed item from her bed side drawer.

"What's that" he asked quickly

."Nothing" she said putting it behind her back."You would tell me if it was something important right Gabi?" he asked eyeing her suspiciously.

"Of course, why wouldn't I?" she said chuckling.

"Just making sure" he said sitting on the bed.

"If it was anything you should know about I'll let you know…i promise" she said giving him a swift peck on the cheek then going back into the bathroom.

As she closed the door, the soft pitter-patter of feet sounded through the room as Brie and Troy jr. ran through the hallway and into their parents' room. Both four years old now the kids jumped onto the bed and climbed onto their father. Brie had long sandy hair that reached down to the middle of her back and chocolate brown eyes like her mother. Troy jr. was the splitting image of his father, sandy hair and electric blue eyes and a smile that could make him appealing to everyone.

The twins' excitement was made known as they began to jump up and down on the bed."Today is the first day of big kid school!" exclaimed Troy jr. with perfect grammar as she jumped up and down on the bed.

"Yeah it is sport. Are you excited?" Troy asked to son trying to catch him in his arms.

"Yes we both are very egg cited" Brie said misinterpreting her dad's words.

"Not egg cited, excited" her brother corrected.

"That's what I said egg cited" she said, becoming irritated with her brother.

"Daddy, Troy is making fun of me!" she whined jumping into her father's lap.

"No I'm not; mommy said it's nice to help people. I'm helping her say the word right" he said sweetly sitting next to his father also.

"But you're not being nice" she said sticking her tongue out at started a whole competition of them both sticking their tongue out at each other.

"Stop, right now" he said looking at both of them. They put their head down and Troy laughed.

"Stop picking on each other and go get dressed please" Troy said sternly but keeping his tone. Quietly they made their way out of the room, not looking at the other.

Troy shook his head then went to the walk in closet in the room and got out a towel."Troy?" Gabriella called out as she came out of the bathroom. When he didn't answer Gabriella poked her in the closet and saw Troy sitting on the ground, thinking.

"What's wrong" she asked, water dripping from her hair to the floor.

"If you were pregnant, you'd let me know right?" he asked turning to look at her

."Yes Troy" she said sighing. "You're making it way bigger than it has to be" she said walking toward the bed.

"So it's nothing I should worry about?" he asked standing up.

"No Troy, nothing at all" she said.

"Ok, now that that's settled..." he said walking toward the bathroom, but then he stopped and turned around. "Gabi"

"Ye-" as she turned around and was instantly pulled into a kiss that pushed her back to the bed. She pulled away before Troy could reach for her towel.

"Not right now Troy, you need to get the kids to school and I need to get to work" she said sitting up. He made his hair fall in front of his eyes and curled his lips into a pout.

"It works on Junior, not you" she said walking to her dresser, holding her towel with both hands. Troy gave up and walked into the bathroom,defeated.

* * *

Gabriella placed the pieces of fruit next to the two small bowls of cereal and poured orange juice into the two cups and coffee into a mug just as Brie and Troy Jr ran into the kitchen. They jumped into their chair and immediately started putting spoonfuls of cereals into their mouths.

"Guys slow down! You're going to choke if you keep eating like that"Gabriella exclaimed as she pulled the bowls away from the children.

"We wanna go to school" said Brie, full of excitement.

Gabriella shook her head and handed the bowls back to them. "Do you guys want to be sick on the first day?" she asked them, taking a sip from her cup of tea.

They shook their heads. "Then slow down".

It was quiet then, the sound of frying eggs filling the room. "I smell eggs and bacon!" Troy said as he walked into the kitchen,sitting down in a chair next to Brie.

"I don't know where the bacon is coming from but here are some eggs and fruit" Gabriella said giving Troy a plate.

"Mommy, daddy said that I can't help people anymore" Troy Jr. said taking a bite out of his cantaloupe.

"Oh really?" Gabriella said

."No, not really; I just said he should let Brie get things right at her own speed" Troy said after taking a gulp of his coffee, the steam burning the roof of his mouth. "He's right junior, just leave it be and apologize" Gabriella said looking at her son. "Sorry" Troy Jr. said to Brie.

"It's ok" she said drinking the remaining milk from her bowl.

"I'm done""Good, get your book bag and wait for me by the door" Troy said standing up.

"Okay" she said going to her room.

Troy went next to Gabriella and leaned against the counter.

"So when does her speech class start?" Troy asked quietly,putting Brie's dishes in the sink

."Next week, she already knows about. It's nothing big" Gabriella said.

"Yeah but-" the phone rang and Gabriella went to get it before Troy could finish.

Troy watched as Troy Jr. went to his room and Brie came back from her's.

Gabriella came back and tapped Troy."It was Matt, he was wondering if you could take Amanda to school for his wife had to go to work early and he needs to run some errands" she asked, wrapping her hands around Troy.

"You already told him I would didn't you?" Troy inquired.

"Yep"

"There's no way out of this is there?

"Nope"

"Fine, but I'm doing it for his daughter. No reason she should be caught in between this." Troy muttered looking away.

"Troy, can we please act like adults. You're going to be 27 soon and you're still acting like you're seventeen" Gabriella said giving Troy a kiss on the cheek and walking into the living room.

"He's the immature one. Bailing on the twins' birthday… never giving back out lawnmower… not inviting me to the country club… the list goes onand on!" Troy said walking back into the bedroom. Gabriella chuckled, kissed the foreheads of her children and quickly exited the house and got into her car.

Brie and Troy Jr. waited impatiently at the door until Troy came out and opened the door for them, allowing them both to sprint to his car. Hair neat,uniform pressed, and heart beats racing the twins could hardly wait as their father opened the car doors then pulled out of the driveway and drove down the road.

But before they headed to the school, they had to pick up Matt's daughterand drop her off as well. When they arrived at Matt's house Troy turned offthe ignition and turned to the twins."Wait here" Troy told his kids, opening the car door and got out then shut the door behind him.

Troy walked into the front porch and rang the door bell. Troy waited, tapping his foot impatiently. Troy knew that Matt knew that he had basketball practice and he knew perfectly well that he was doing it on purpose. Troy couldn't blame him though, going to Mexico, which was your dream vacation, and coming home to find out that your girlfriend had sex with her ex-boyfriend and is pregnant and the person responsible for it was a famous NBA player was way out of line. The fact that you get easily jealous and have anger problems doesn't help the situation either. Even though, plotting an evil plan to get revenge wasn't such a bright thing to do so Troy ought to cut him some slack, right? Wrong! Not inviting him to thecountry club and not giving back your lawnmower is one thing, actually two things. But, plotting an evil plan that could break up a very loving couple that just had kids, was just, well…plain that's the reason why Troy hated his guts. He actually thought he was down to earth and a very humble, laidback guy when he first met him.

But shortly after the twin's birth, he was realized he was way wrong. But Gabriella didn't care; she still wanted to be friends with him and sometimes actually spent more time with Matt than him, when he's out of town for games and such. The thought of Gabriella still wanting to be friends with him even when he makes rude gestures to Troy, making it so obvious that he despises him, makes him think that she and Matt are having affairs and that he wasn't good enough. And the fact that he wasn't home 24/7 makes him think that Gabriella doesn't love him anymore. He knew he was getting paranoid and he should know that Gabriella loves him, she makes it clear everyday, when they have sex, alone time or in random conversations, on the phone and such.

But still, cheaters have a way to trick a person into thinking the cheater still loves him. He should know because he was once a cheater right? It was all because of a stupid misunderstanding five years ago and he didn't want to go into that or even remember that. He and Gabriella shoved all those memories and put it into the bottom of the ocean. It was a thing of the past and he was clearly happy the way things turned out after the whole fiasco.

So you're probably wondering how Matt fell in love and had a daughter. It was after a fight he had with Gabriella so he went to the bar and got drunk and woke up the next morning completely naked with a woman next to after that, they got to know each other and started dating and two years later they had gotten married. It was a pretty weird way to fall in loveif you asked him Troy.

Troy shook his thoughts away when the door suddenly opened to reveal Matt Livingston standing in the doorway leaning against the doorframe.

"What took you so long?" Troy asked impatiently, checking his watch."You know that I'm supposed to clock into the gym in 25 minutes and you just took your time on purpose to get a good laugh out of it"

"If I get to practice late you are so gonna-" Troy couldn't finish his sentence to due to the fact that Matt rudely interrupted him.

"Yeah," Matt cut in, slightly smirking. "You're going to be extra late, if you keep babbling that little mouth of yours"

Troy's teeth clenched as he tried to keep his cool. "When you talk, other people get hoarse just listening"

Matt laughed harshly. "Is that all you got Bolton, if so-" Matt didn't get finish his sentence because a little girl walked in carrying a Dora lunchbox and a Dora backpack. You could pretty much tell that she was a Dora fanatic.

"Hey, daddy" Amanda greeted.

"Hey, princess" Matt greeted.

"Are you ready for the first of school?" Matt asked.

"Yupperzz" Amanda answered giving her father a toothy smile which caused the two men to burst out laughing.

"Great, princess, have a great day at school" Matt said smiling stroking his precious daughter and giving her a kiss on the cheek.

"I love you daddy" Amanda waved goodbye.

"I love you too, my princess" Matt waved goodbye.

"Come on Amanda" Troy spoke up, motioning his hands for Amanda to followhim into the car.

"Okay" Amanda responded back as she trailed behind Troy, walking towardshis ever the gentlemen, he opened the door and let Amanda get inside his Audi **(The Audi that Zac Efron currently drives)**He shut the door quickly and got into his car then started the engine and puton his seatbelt and proceeded to back out of the driveway.

10 minutes later, Troy got out of the car and led the kids into the schooland made their way into kindergarten class. Much to Troy's satisfaction, thekids had the same class so Troy didn't have to walk around the school looking like an idiot. He pushed the door open and stepped inside was a beautifully, decorated classroom filled with kids sitting on their assigned tables and talking and laughing and parents trying to clam their kids down from crying because they apparently didn't want to be separated fromtheir parents. Just then a lady walked up to them

"Hi, your Troy Bolton, I'm Mrs. Bakers and I'm going to be your kid's teacher and I rest assure you that yourkid's are going to be taken care of" she said, smiling.

"I'm a Lakers fan and you are one of my favorite players so would youmind signing an autograph and taking a picture with me?" She questioned.

"Sure" Troy taking the pictures. It was time to say goodbye to the kids.

"Bye, daddy, I love you" Brie whispered, hugging her dad.

"Bye, I'm going to miss you so much and of course I love you like always,my sweet little princess" Troy replied hugging back.

"After school, can you teach me how to playbasketball?" Troy. Jr asked

Troy laughed. "Of course buddy, I'm going to miss you and I'll love you just like always"

Troy Jr. grinned. "I love you too"

"Bye" Troy waved.

"Bye" The three kids waved

Troy walked out of the classroom and zoomed out of the school. He got into the car and checked his watch.

_15 more minutes left to spare_ he thought to himself.

35 minutes later, Troy finally arrived to basketball practice after filling up his car with gas and dealing with you could pretty much tell that Troy is way beyond pissed off.

Troy grabbed his bag and unbuckled his seatbelt and got out of the car and ran into sprinted into the gym, "Sorry I'm late, I got stuck in traffic and Ihad to fill up gas and I had some other things to take of"

"That is not an excuse. Now in order to make up those 20 minutes. You have to run 1 mile around the gym and your benched for Chicago's game nextweek" Coach. Miller's said got ooohed by his teammates' and that got Troy even more frustrated, on top of the fact that he just got benched.

Troy silently groaned and dropped his bag in the benches and proceeded to run while thinking _this is not my day._Troy thought to himself.

* * *

Gabriella was in her classroom at East High watching one of her students try to decipher the problem in front of him.

"Ms. Bolton, I can't figure this out. Why does Romeo fight Tybalt if they don't like each other?" Evan asked, scratching his head.

"Well Evan, Tybalt is a Capulet and related to Juliet, who Romeo loves and is married to" Gabriella explained.

Evan's confused expression didn't change.

"If you were married, and your wife's cousin wanted to fight you,would you fight him?" Gabriella asked. "No" he said shaking his head "That would be like fighting your family"

"Exactly, think of it like that" Gabriella said.

After a couple of minutes Taylor walked into the room with papers in her hand and sat on top Gabriella's desk.

"So, how's your day so far?" Taylor asked Gabriella examining her papers.

"Well… Troy saw me taking out the—" she stopped when she remembered a student was in the room.

"The thing I told you I bought" "Oh! What did you say" she asked with excitement in her voice.

"He didn't actually catch me. He just "Nothing really, I sort of lied but not lied at the same time" Gabriela said getting up and going to the blackboard.

"Well when are you going to tell him?" Taylor questioned.

"It's nothing big-Evan get back to your work!" she said when she saw him texting on his cell phone.

"but I will tell him. I guess I have to. But it's going to have to wait; I'm still trying to get everything ready for his birthday next week. I haven't even sent out the invites, I have to order the cake and—" Taylor interrupted Gabriella's rambling

"Chill Gabs, it'll all fall into place" Taylor said as the bell rang.

"I hope so" she said going to Evan.

"I have to get to my class before the students do, see you later Gabs"Taylor said exiting the room.

"Ms. Bolton do teachers always have lives full of drama outside of school?" Evan asked looking up at Gabriella.

"Open your book and start the do now Evan" Gabriella said evading his question and going back to her desk as the students filed in.

Evan smirked as he shook his head and began to his next class.

_Today is going to be quite a day_ Gabriella thought to herself solemnly.

**A/N Samantha 1024: This was just a chapter made to introduce how things are. The main conflict will come into play in a little while. Tell us what you think and what you liked. Review!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Stranger 2: Pain is not For Gain. **

**Disclamior: We don't own the franchise except the story and any unfimlar characters. **

**A/N 2pinkstar: We we want to thank you guys so much for all of your reviews and alerts and favorites, you guys rule!. Somehow i manged to snag a few of my readers from the last story, i really want my old readers to read this story as well as new readers. But, i need you to do two things for me. Number 1 Read my co-writer for this story Tears of A Wildcat and number 2 is read and review this story but what's the point of asking you to read when you're already one the page about to read the chapter. I'm using brother's youtube account and lets me do whatever i want with it and his username is Masterdude5656. Add me as a friend and add a comment on my channel and i'll be doing the favor of commenting your channel and also if you want ask questions about my stories or to just talk then you may do so. I also put the link to the youtube page so go to my profile and click on the link. Ok, i'm done ranting now so without further ado.....chapter 2. Enjoy!.**

Gabriella groaned when she heard the phone ring for the 44th time that day. It was two days before the party and Gabriella had asked her boss to be off today and tomorrow considering today was Thursday. People had been calling in to confirm that they were going to Troy's party. It was driving her insane!

The house phone had been ringing nonstop all day

"Hello?" She answered calmly into the phone.

"I'm calling in to confirm that I'm going to the party" A female answered.

"Ok, I'll make sure you're on the list" Gabriella replied back.

"Thanks, bye" The female answered back, hanging up the phone.

Gabriella sighed as she heard the dial tone, hoping it was the last person to call, well at least for today.

But suddenly the phone rang again and she groaned and picked it up and held it into her ear.

"This is the Bolton residence, how may I help you?" Gabriella answered into the phone, politely.

"Uh, I'm here to order, a cheese pizza with a lil bit of sauce with a cola" The person answered.

Gabriella realized who the person was as she recognized the tone of the voice.

"What the hell, Troy," Gabriella shouted into the receiver "This is not a pizza restaurant"

Troy burst into laughter "Chill, Gabs. Can't you take a joke?"

"I can but not right now," Gabriella answered bitterly.

"Anyway, I'm calling to check up on you," Troy spoke up into the receiver.

"I'M NOT 16, I'M A 26 YEAR OLD WOMAN WHO DOESN'T NEED TO BE CHECKED UP ON" Gabriella screamed completely losing her cool.

It wasn't her intention to scream at him like that but what can you do, when you have mood swings?

"I take it," Troy replied back. "Your stressed out, aren't you and what is making you stressed out?"

"Nothing and I'm not stressed" Gabriella snapped.

"Yes you are, don't try to hide it"

"No, I'm not!"

"Yes you are"

"No I'm not!"

"Yes you are"

"No I'm not!"

"Yes you are"

"Fine I am"

"So your admitting your stressed babe?"

"Whatever, I'm stressed. OK. You don't need to rub it in"

"Rubbing it in? I'm not even close to rubbing it in"

"Whatever, look, I'm sorry I yelled at you like that. It's just that  
I've got a lot of things in my mind"

"Oh really what?"

"You know what, I don't have time for this."

"Maybe, you're right. Looks like I called in at the wrong time"

"Yeah, you did"

"Whatever, I love you babe, bye"

"Bye, love ya too" Gabriella replied back into the phone, hanging up.

She felt totally bad for yelling at Troy like that. But, hey, it was mood swings and he called in on the wrong time

Gabriella closed her eyes and leaned back into her chair, enjoying the peace and quiet in her house without even having to hear the phone ring, the kids' tantrums and Troy's rants.

Suddenly the phone rang and Gabriella groaned as she hit her head on the kitchen table and picked up the receiver and held it into her ear, once again.

"What do want now?" Gabriella asked, thinking it was Troy.

"I'm definitely going to Troy's party, this weekend. Dude, it's going to rock" A man's voice answered.

Why did the voice seem so familiar? It sounded kind of like-. Gabriella realized who the person was.

"ROCKETMAN" Gabriella shouted into the phone.

"Gabriella?" Jimmy answered, nervously.

"What the heck, how did you get my number?" Gabriella questioned.

"Donny, who had Chad's phone at the time, was looking through the text message and saw about Troy's surprise party then he told me and the number of Troy. Donny had looked at the contacts for the number and found your number. So I didn't know that you too were married.

"Well, we are" Gabriella answered, annoyed. "How did Donny get in contact with Chad when we haven't seen you in like 10 years or so?"

"Donny and Chad exchanged numbers after your graduation and kept in contact ever since then," Jimmy explained "So, can I come?"

"Fine, you're on the list just get off the phone!" Gabriella snapped.

"Whoa, who knew a woman could change so much in 10 years after giving birth to twins and getting married" Jimmy replied.

"HANG UP!" Gabriella shouted.

"Well, if you didn't want to talk to me, then why don't you hang up yourself" Jimmy said.

"Ugh, fine" Gabriella snapped then she clicked the off button and hung up the phone.

Gabriella shook her head in annoyance, making a mental note to talk to Chad about the Donny thing.

She closed her eyes and placed the clipboard on the table and began to drift off to sleep.

_Ring! ring!, ring, ring!, riiiiinnng._

Gabriella groaned as she slammed her head down the table.

Today was going to be a long day.

* * *

Troy sat on a park bench watching his children run around, enjoying the fresh air in the neighborhood park. He took pleasure in taking them to the park because he finally got the chance to think, without the distraction of children arguing or Gabriella randomly having 'her moments' like she did a couple of minutes ago when she called him.

But recently he'd been thinking it's something else, but it was shot out of his head last week when she told him she definitely wasn't pregnant. He tried to shake it out of his head but the conversation they just had kept playing over and over. He needed to get this out of the way. He took out his cell phone and called a friend.

"Hello" Chad answered

"Hey what's up man?" Troy asked

"Nothing, trying to change Dylan's diaper. It's not working out that well" Chad said.

"Chad, the diaper goes on his body" Troy said chuckling, wondering how Taylor could leave Chad alone with a 1 year old.

"Ha, ha very funny. I got that part but he keeps moving and I only have one free hand right now" Chad said, his voice showing how stressed he was.

"Calm down, this stage will pass by soon enough. Just keep sane" Troy said chuckling.

"Good idea, but did you call me to give me advice" Chad asked.

"No I actually called to talk to you about something" Troy said sighing

"Lay it on me man"

"Well, I think Gabriella's pregnant, again" Troy said, finally spilling out what he was thinking.

"Wow, that's a lot to lay on me don't you think" Chad joked.

"Seriously, man"

"Well is she having mood swings, you know an overload of hormones" Chad

questioned.

"Yeah, she's exactly how she was when she first got pregnant" Troy said thinking back to the times when she'd get so emotional.

"Has she mentioned anything to you?"

"She's just high strung and I don't think so emotional but I mean it's just a bit weird" Troy admitted.

"Why don't you ask her about it?" Chad asked.

"That'd be the most awkward conversation ever"

"You and her have had more awkward ones, believe me" Chad said joking.

"True, so I guess I'll just ask her" Troy said, exhaling.

"Great, now how are my god children doing?" Chad asked.

"They're great, playing in the park right now" Troy said smiling as he watched them have a race with another child.

"That's good to hear. So, what are you doing for your birthday" Chad asked.

"Just hanging with the family. Nothing big"

"Sounds—Oh my god what is that!" Chad exclaimed, causing Troy to break out in laughter.

"Everything ok?" Troy inquired

"His crap is the size of my fist. Where's this coming from?!" Chad yelled.

"You should be used to this. Taylor shouldn't being doing everything" Troy said.

"Whatever man, I gotta go. This is too much. Talk to you later. Taylor!"

Chad called out as he hung up. Troy shook his head and laughed as he stood up and walked toward his children.

"Is it time to go daddy?" Troy Jr. asked his father as he climbed up the ladder.

"Yeah, let's go" Troy said lifting up Brie.

"Do we have to?" Brie asked her father, her chocolate brown eyes full of sparkle as she gazed at him.

"It's getting late, we should get home sweetie" Troy said trying to pout his lips.

"Mommy was right, you don't do it good" Brie said chuckling. Troy scowled and went to grab Troy Jr.

When they arrived they found Gabriella asleep on the couch with a phone by her ear. All three of them snickered then Troy took her to the bed room, laid her in the bed then made dinner for the kids. Later that night Troy sat in the living room watching TV alone while the kids were tucked into their beds.

"Hey Hun" Gabriella said tiredly, rubbing her eyes as she entered the living room.

"How was your sleep?" he asked her as she laid down on the couch, her head in his lap.

"It was ok" she said yawning.

"Apparently it wasn't that good if you're still tired" he told her, chuckling.

"Well maybe I didn't want to sleep until the morning. Maybe I wanted to get up now" she snapped at him. He took that in for a second then remembered what he was thinking earlier.

"Whatever you say Gabs" he said not wanting to start an argument. She was silent so he decided to be blunt."Is there anything you have to tell me?" he asked her.

"No Troy, why do you keep asking me that?" she said, raising her voice.

"Just asking" he said

"Well the answer is no" she said, abruptly sitting up. "I'm going back to bed" she said, getting up and going back to the bedroom. Troy sighed and turned off the TV, his mind fighting against possibilities of the future.

Gabriella groaned in frustration as she tried to wipe the mess that her daughter had made moments ago.

_I can't get this stupid stain off the damn carpet_ Gabriella thought to herself.

She wondered what her husband must be doing. She hadn't had a chance to talk to him this morning due to the fact he had to go to practice and do a couple of press conferences about his new movie that he would be filming in a couple of months.

Gabriella felt totally bad for treating Troy like crap yesterday. It wasn't her fault that she was so stressed out and couldn't deal with anything at the moment.

He probably must be doing something better compared to what was doing. Just then the door bell rang. Gabriella sighed in relief.

_Saved by the bell_ she thought to herself.

She got up and swung the door open only to be greeted by a middle aged woman.

"Hello, um, I'm looking for your sister and brother. I'm here to pick them up for a play date they have with my kids" The woman greeted.

Gabriella blushed furiously, her cheeks turning red. "I'm, um their mom"

The woman's eyes grew wide and her cheeks flaming red in embarrassment

"Oh, right, sorry. It's just that you look really young and pretty"

"Thank you and um, I'll go call the kids" Gabriella told her awkwardly

"Troy Jr. and Brie come down here, its time to go to your play date!" She called out.

The kids ran down and hugged her "Bye mommy, we love you"

"I love you too" She kissed them in the cheeks.

"Bye" Gabriella waved.

"Bye" They waved back.

"Well, it was nice meeting you" The woman told her and eyed Gabriella's flowered printed dress.

"Yeah, it was nice meeting you too" Gabriella waved goodbye and she slammed the door shut.

But then her phone beeped and Gabriella pulled her phone out and stared at the screen reading 1 message. She pressed read and then the message popped up on the screen.

_Hey babe._

_I really need to talk 2 u so meet me up at da park._

She smiled excitedly and put her phone back into her pocket and threw the sponge on the floor not even caring about the mess that she was about to leave behind.

She threw the door open and walked out of the house but not before locking it. She walked down to the park and spotted Troy standing there, staring at her smiling innocently with his hands in his pockets.

"So, what are you up to now, Mr. Bolton?" She asked smiling.

Troy grinned "Nothing much, I just wanted to tell you that if there's anything you feel that you should hide then your more then welcome to"

Gabriella looked confused "What do you mean?"

"I just wanted to apologize about yesterday-" Troy couldn't finish his sentence.

"No, I should be the one apologizing. I didn't mean to go off on you like that, its just that I've been getting stressed a lot lately" Gabriella apologized.

"And I'm sorry for being paranoid with you and if you have something really important that you're hiding from me, not saying that you are, but if you were to hide try to hide it from mw, make sure to tell me so I could be aware of whatever you're hiding ok?" Troy questioned.

"Alright" She lied as she forced a smile.

"Good," Troy smiled. "Now, do you think I'll look good in this outfit with you to the Celebrity Waltz ball in two weeks?"

"This almost sounds like an invitation" She told him.

"The thing is. I forgot how to waltz. Its crazy, it's like I'm one of those old people who forgets things easily" Troy told her.

"Hey, don't go insulting old people" she joked.

Troy chuckled. "Seriously, Brie"

Gabriella smiled and walked away to the middle of the park, opened her mouth and began to sing.

_Gabriella]_

_Take my hand, take a breath_

_Pull me close and take one step_

_Keep your eyes locked on mine,_

_And let the music be your guide._

_[Troy, Gabriella]_

_Won't you promise me (now won't you promise me, that you'll never forget)_

_We'll keep dancing (to keep dancing) wherever we go next_

_(chorus)_

_It's like catching lightning the chances of finding someone like you_

_It's one in a million, the chances of feeling the way we do_

_And with every step together, we just keep on getting better_

_So can I have this dance (can I have this dance)_

_Can I have this dance_

_[Troy]_

_Take my hand, I'll take the lead_

_And every turn will be safe with me_

_Don't be afraid, afraid to fall_

_You know I'll catch you threw it all_

_[Troy, Gabriella]_

_And you can't keep us apart (even a thousand miles, can't keep us apart)_

_'Cause my heart is (cause my heart is) wherever you are_

_(chorus)_

_It's like catching lightning the chances of finding someone like you_

_It's one in a million, the chances of feeling the way we do And with every step together, we just keep on getting better_

_So can I have this dance (can I have this dance)_

_Can I have this dance_

_[Gabriella And Troy]_

_Oh no mountains too high enough, oceans too wide_

_'Cause together or not, our dance won't stop_

_Let it rain, let it pour_

_What we have is worth fighting forYou know I believe, that we were meant to be_

_(chorus)_

_It's like catching lightning the chances of finding someone like you (like_

_you)_

_It's one in a million, the chances of feeling the way we do (way we do)_

_And with every step together, we just keep on getting better_

_So can I have this dance (can I have this dance)_

_Can I have this dance_

_Can I have this dance_

_Can I have this dance_

By the time they finished the song, rain was already pouring down already. Gabriella wrapped her arms around his neck and giggled.

"So is that a yes?" He asked.

"Si, oui, hai, yes in every language" Gabriella responded and put her face up towards the sky and enjoyed the rain touching her face feeling the wet

She put her head back up and faced Troy and they gazed at each other and then leaned and kissed.

They broke apart smiling that knowing nothing could break them apart.

**A/N 2pinkstar: liked it?. luved it?. hated it?. Let us know by reviewing. Troy and Gabriella sang and danced the exact same way in the can i have this dance rooftop scene. Please share your thoughts, opions, ideas, suggestions. ideas and questions and tell what you didn't like or hate in this chapter. I want to know what my readers think about the story. I even except flames and constructive critizem. But mainly what we'd like for you to do is.........REVIEW,REVIWEW,REVIEW AND REVIEW!!!!!!!.**

**Peace out!.**


	3. Chapter 3

** Stranger 2: Pain is not for Gain**

** Disclamior: We do not own the franchise but we do own any unfamilar characters and this story also the plot.**

A**/N We would like to thank ****hsm-troyella-1990**** for your review. I was pretty dissapointed when i only got 1 review but oh well, what can you do?. Before i finish my author's note, i would really recommand reading and reviewing my cowriters's of this story Tears of a Wildcat, it is a awesome story and one of the most breath taking stories, seriously, you should read it. I also recomand reading Alien's in a spaceship, its where Gabriella and Troy hate each other and somehow both of them got kidnapped and is buried alive. Its like the orginal storyline, i read here . I don't know if i told you the storyline of Tears of a Wildcat written by Samantha1024 who also writes this story, so i'm just gonna tell you the great storyline. Its about Troy being abused by his own father and a new girl named Gabriella moves into the school but when he finds out a secet of her own. Will he realize his true feelings and will he able to save her or himself.....See, i told you it was a great storyline but if you wanna know what happens or what the secret is, your just going to have to read yourself. Also, one more favor...PLEASE READ AND REVIEW MY STORY HURT, BROKEN AND ASHAMED. **

The door creaked open. Giggling and whispers could be heard from inside the bedroom. Gabriella and the twins' feet shuffled inside the room and gently and ever so quietly closed the bedroom tip toed quietly to the bed where Troy was soundly asleep.

She carefully and quietly picked both of her kids up on Troy's bed. Brie and Troy Jr. sprawled over to the other side of the bed which was empty.

"Now, I want you guys to sing the happy birthday song very loudly, ok" Gabriella ordered them quietly.

"Ok" The two kids both chorused smiled.

"Good"All three of them broke out into the song, singing Happy Birthday.

_Happy Birthday to you_

_Happy Birthday to you!_

Troy stirred and his eyes fluttered open. Blinking, he wasn't really fully aware of what was going on at the moment.

"Wha…" Troy croaked out in a sleepy tone, blinking.

_Happy Birthday dear daddy…_

As soon as Troy heard the words birthday and daddy he was wide awake. He had totally forgotten it was his birthday. Troy blinked a couple times and his vision was now focused. He saw his wife standing on his bedside and the kids sitting on his other side. He grinned happily thinking about how thoughtful his family was to put this all together.

"Happy Birthday to you" The three finished the last line of the song.

Troy clapped "I think you guys deserve the most cutest, thoughtful and wonderful great singers in the world award. Thank you, but you didn't haveto do this for me" Troy joked.

"Oh, but we did," Gabriella smirked. "And the kids made breakfast for you"

She handed Troy a bowl of cheerios, a candle was put in the middle of the bowl with frozen cream wrapped around the candle with candy corn sprinkles around it.

"Thanks again and like I said before, I didn't want any surprises for my birthday, all I want to do is just stay home with you guys. Nothing special,really" Troy said taking the bowl from them.

"Today, I don't want any surprises. Got that?" Troy questioned.

"Sure, it's your day. Which means, you can do anything you want"Gabriella smiled.

"But first, why don't you and I have a special day without the kids" Troy's eyes grew wide.

"Oh, I would love that! We hadn't had a date in like three years" She giggled. "Exactly, so I want you to get ready as soon as you're done eating!"

"What's the rush?" Troy asked suspiciously.

"Nothing much" Gabriella answered, shrugging.

"Ok then" Troy said, not really believing her. He took the spoon and dipped it into the bowl and took a bite.

Troy's eyes grew wide "This is really good, what did you even put in here?"

"Thank you and happy birthday daddy. We put candy corn and whipped cream"Troy Jr. and Brie answered.

"This is delicious, thanks you guys." Troy said happily, eating his breakfast.

"You're welcome," Gabriella replied "Ok, guys let your daddy finish up and then you guys can go play"

"Ok" They said together and hugged Troy then ran away from the room.

"Ok Troy, I'm going to take you to a bunch of places and don't you even dare give an ounce of whining and complaining, Deal?" Gabriella questioned.

"Deal" Troy compromised.

"Good, now hurry up" Gabriella ordered.

"Yes, mother" Troy said rolling his eyes.

Gabriella giggled and left the bedroom

Troy could tell that this day was going to be full of suprises.

* * *

Gabriella entered the kitchen and picked up the kitchen phone and dialed a few numbers.

"Hello" A man answered in an Italian accent.

"Hey, Mr. Goods" Gabriella greeted.

"Good Morning, Mrs. Bolton, how are you doing and what brings you to calling me in early in the morning?" Mr. Goods greeted back.

Gabriella smiled "Mr. Goods, I was just checking up the cake that you're making for Troy's surprise party"

"Oh, it's going really good," Mr. Goods answered. "Now only if the cake wasn't ten feet tall, it's much too hard to decorate"

"I'm sorry about everything that I'm putting you through. It's just that I want this party to be special for Troy" Gabriella apologized, feeling guilty.

"No worries. Mrs. Bolton" Mr. Goods assured

"Now you are a very sweet young lady. What wife goes through all this just to plan a surprise party?"

"Apparently, me" Gabriella answered chuckling.

"Which is why, you are the nicest wife because you go through so much money and so much trouble just to give your husband a very special birthday," guaranteed. Mr. Goods. "Now, I must get back to the cake, have a good one. Mrs. Bolton"

"You too" Gabriella replied back hanging up the soon as she heard the dial tone, she quickly began dialing another number.

"Hello?" Taylor answered.

"Hey, Tay" Gabriella greeted.

"One second," Taylor said before calling out to someone. "Dylan, don't eat that crayon!"

"Gabriella, please make this a very quick phone call" Taylor pleaded quickly.

"Ah, I see you're busy," Gabriella commented. "Anyway, as soon as you finish dealing with whatever, you're dealing with. Can you please come to take care of the kids and pack up their party clothes, tooth and hair brushes and anything else, they need for tonight?"

"Don't worry, I'm on it. Actually Chad's on it. He's already on theway there" Taylor confirmed.

"Ok, gotta go, see you tonight" Taylor said hanging up the phone.

"Wai-" Gabriella tried to say before Taylor could hang up the phone but she knew it was already too late when she heard the dial sighed and heard the door bell ring.

She sighed and heard the door bell ring.

_Shit_ She thought to herself.

She ran to the door and opened it and grabbed Chad inside the house not even bothering to muster a hello to him."Stay here and don't make a sound or move and if Troy ever comes in here,hide" Gabriella commanded and ran to the kids and ran back to Chad.

"Take the kids inside the car and stay put, while I go pack" Gabriella said and threw open the door and shoved them out of the slammed the door and ran up to the kids' room then she ran to the closet and pulled out two suitcases and threw them on the picked the party clothes and threw them into the suitcase and ran into the bathroom and took their shampoos, towels, tooth and hair brushes and ran back into the closet also throwing stuffed animals and a couple of toys inside the suitcases.

Gabriella was out of breath as she zipped the suitcases and ran out of the house and ran near Chad's window opened and Gabriella shoved them carelessly into the car.

"What the-" Chad said in confusion. Suddenly, the two suitcases lunged toward his face. "Ow!!"

"Bye, sweetie," Gabriella waved goodbye. "I'll see you tonight at the party and remember no fighting, ok?"

"Ok" Both kids replied."Ok, mommy loves you" Gabriella said throwing air kisses.

"And we love you too" Brie and Troy Jr. replied back.

"Yeah, Yeah" Chad mumbled, rubbing his face in pain while he rolled the car window up. Then the car backed out of the driveway and drove out sighed in relief.

Phase 1: complete, now Phase 2: ready to begin.

Gabriella ran inside the house and into the kitchen just to make a few quick phone calls before Troy finished getting ready.

When she finished her calls, Troy walked downstairs smiling but giving her a weird look.

"Why did I hear yelling, door slams, running and things being thrown?"Troy questioned.

"You must be hearing things" Gabriella pretended to have no idea what he was talking about.

"Okaaay then," Troy eyed her suspiciously. "Did Chad and Taylor pick the kids up yet?"

"Yup" Gabriella answered.

"Ok, I have 1 surprise for you" She said changing the subject.

Troy groaned. "Brie, I thought I told you no surprises" he complained.

"Yeah, but it's only one" Gabriella insisted, lying.

"Fine, whatever" Troy said giving up, knowing that that there was no way he could do anything about it.

She pulled out a box wrapped in blue gift wrapper and a blue ribbon and handed it to him.

"Happy Birthday, Troy" Gabriella told him once again.

Troy pulled the gift away from her and pecked her in the lips. "Babe, you didn't have to get me anything"

"Why shouldn't I?" Gabriella questioned. "I mean, it's your birthday"

"So I don't care, you don't need to give me anything. All I need is you and the kids" Troy told her.

"Just open it" Gabriella told him.

"Don't tell me, it's an expensive one" Troy unwrapped the gift, opened the box and pulled out the stuffing paper to reveal a play station 3.

He grinned excitedly "Aw, thanks babe. I've been wanting for one of those for a long time"

"Your welcome, anything for you babe" She said giving a kiss, which Troy gladly returned and they pulled apart grinning at each other.

* * *

"Brie!" Troy complained as she pulled him into yet another museum. She ignored his complaints and continued to the front desk.

"When you said we'll have 'a day to ourselves' I took it as staying in the house or even going to the park, but not museum after museum! We've probably all over New Mexico by now. Can we just please go home?!" he whined pulling her back.

"No" she said sternly "We are staying out the house for the entire day and we are going to have fun"

"This is not my idea of fun" he said putting his hands around her.

"Well you'll just have to put up with it for a little while longer okay babe" she said giving Troy tender kiss on the lips. He deepened the kiss as she wrapped her arms around his neck. Before they could go any further they heard someone clearing their throat and broke apart.

"Here are your tickets, and by the way this a family friendly museum, which means there shall be no sucking face" an old woman said handing them both aticket from behind the counter. They thanked her and walked away, their faces bright red.

"So can you handle just a couple more museums?" She asked him as they walked down the hallway.

"Maybe just one more kiss…"

"Let's go" she said pulling him further into the museum, rolling her eyes.

* * *

"Where's the cake!" Chad shouted as he walked around the Bolton's house excusing himself as he pushed through the throng of people socializingin the living room.

"There's an Italian guy outside with this really tall box" Zeke told Chad loudly, trying to be louder than the music.

"Well what are you waiting for?! Help him bring it around back!" Chad hollered walking toward the door. As he headed toward the door his cell phone rang.

"Hello" he answered.

"What's our status?" Gabriella asked him quietly.

"Well all of the guests are here and the cake just arrived" Chad said to her.

"Well the cake is already precut so all you need to do is make someone watch it to keep it safe until we come, put it in the shed in the back orsomething because he doesn't need to see it until later"

"Ok, well when are you coming?"

"We're on our way now just hold off until we come"

"Ok fine, I got to go, this thing looks heavy" Chad exclaimed, hanging up.

After a half hour Troy and Gabriella pulled into the driveway. Gabriella groaned as she looked toward the house. The blinds were wide open and shecould hear music blearing from inside. A wide grin spread across Troy's faceas he looked toward the house.

"No more surprises huh?" he said smirking down at her, who sunk down inher seat covering her face.

"I know; I'm sorry" she mumbled from behind her hand.

"Don't be, it's really sweet, and proves that you are the most awesome wife in the world" he said removing her hands. She smiled at him.

"Come one, let's head inside. I need to practice my surprise face" he said pulling her up. They walked to the house and he opened the door.

"I wonder why all of the lights are down??" he said in a pretend curious way, lifting up the light switch.

"SURPRISE!" Everyone shouted as he turned on the lights. He jumped back,actually surprised by the intensity of the guests. He covered his mouth with one hand as he made an effort to drop his jaw.

"Bet you didn't see this coming now did you?" Chad asked

"Nope, not one bit," Troy said shaking his head trying to be convincing.

"Well good because Gabi worked hard to make sure you didn't know about anything!" Chad said running his hands though Gabriella's hair, who pushed him playful in response.

"I know" Troy said, looking at Gabriella with so much adoration it made her blush. He wrapped one arm around her waist as people began to walk up tohim, wishing him a happy birthday.

Later that night Troy sat down in the center of the living room where he was placed by Gabriella to open his presents. He gazed at the large pile of multicolored presents before him and he suddenly became extremely excited, acting nothing like the twenty seven year old he should be. Gabriella walked toward him, picked a box out and handed it to him, just as the phone rang.

"I'll get it" Gabriella said heading toward the phone, but Troy was quicker and ran toward the receiver, his excitement and impatience getting the best of him.

She laughed and they playfully tried to pull each other away from the phone, all of their friends watching this spectacle. After a couple of rings, Troy managed to get away from his wife and pick up the phone, Gabriella not far behind.

"Hello" he answered out of breath, a large smile on his face.

"Is this Troy Bolton?" a plain voice said from the other said.

"Yes it is, and to whom am I speaking to?" he replied.

"This is Officer Dempsey of the Chaplain Unit here in Albuquerque, I'm calling to inform you that your parents have been in a car accident" the man said. Troy struggled to comprehend those last words

"Wha- What happened? Are they okay?" he asked, trying to form the words quick enough. The next sentence that came out of the receiver is something that he was unprepared for.

"An oncoming truck lost control. It was a head on collision and theydidn't make it, I'm sorry" the man said trying to have some compassion.

All of a sudden he got this surge of adrenaline. His heart began to pound like it was going to pop out of his chest. His hands began to shake and he felt like you he was either going to pass out or be sick. He felt like his whole world was spinning out of control and was crashing down around him in amillion pieces at that very second. Gabriella stood next to him, her face full of confusion just as everyone else in the room.

"You'll need to—" the officer was interrupted as Troy hung up the phone, not wanting to hear any more. He tried to steady his breathing as he turned to his wife, masking all of his emotions.

"Were my parents supposed to come tonight?" he whispered, barely audible.

"Yeah they—" But he was already walking up the stairs fighting the urge to just shed tears the rest of the night.

He walked into their bedroom, slamming the door behindhim and going into the corner of the room, overlooking the backyard. He shook his head as he saw the tall cake outside, with "Happy Birthday Troy"inscribed at the top.

At the moment he couldn't fathom how the rest of the world could keep going normally and he could still be twenty seven, instead of a teenager getting advice from his father or being pampered by his mother. How he could suddenly have to deal with things he'd never dreamed he'd ever be dealing with. It just didn't seem real.

**A/N i know, i know, i know. What a horribe way to end Troy's birthday. But right now-. Ok, i'm going to spoil anything you have to review,review and reviwew in order to get the next chapter. I'm going to start easy on you guys, so with that being said, i want at least three reviews or more. In order to get the next chapter. Besides your gonna have to review because things will get more intresting.I won't be able to update till after june 16th because i'm going out of town for ten days beginng June 10 which is the day after my birthday which is on June 9th next tuesday. But i'll may be able to put up a chapter of my story hurt, broken and ashamed this friday. i can't update on monday because i'm preparing for a special day and a sad day because i won't be able to see a few of my classmates because their going to a diffrent school. But the rest of my classmates and i will be attending the same school in the fall. Damn, no more slacking for me next year and i gotta keep my grades up for my credits, which i won't be used to, but i know it'll take alot of adjusting and the school is so freaking big. But anway...**

**REVIEW, REVIEW,REVIEW**

**REVIEW,REVIEW,REVIEW**


	4. Chapter 4

**Stranger 2: Pain is not for gain**

**Disclaimer: Seriously?.**

**A/N Samantha1024: Thanks for the reviews and in the coming chapters Troy will go through the five stages of grief. **

"How long is he going to stay up there?!" Chad asked impatiently.

"It's just been two minutes Chad. Calm down, the cake isn't going anywhere" Gabriella answered him, her eyes still fixated on the stairs  
waiting for her husband to come down.

She was still concerned about Troy's reaction after he hung up and she patiently waited until he was ready to talk about it. After another couple  
of minutes everyone looked toward the stairs after they heard a door from upstairs open. Troy quickly ran down the stairs and sat back down in the chair in the living room.

"So are we going to open these presents or not" he asked looking around the room.

Everyone gazed at him curiously as he enthusiastically reached for the largest present in front of him. Gabriella cautiously walked up to him and  
gently put a hand on his shoulder.

"Hun, what's going on?" she asked him kindly.

"Well we're supposed to be opening presents now. But apparently I'm doing something wrong" he replied looking back at the guests, crowded into the living room.

"Troy can I talk to you for a second" she asked, taking his hand.

"Sure babe" he said walking with her toward the kitchen.

"What happened?" she asked him as they entered the kitchen.

"What do mean, nothing happened. I'm having a great birthday party, thanks to you that is" he said sitting on top of the counter.

"I'm not talking about that. I mean the phone call, you disappearing upstairs…"

"Oh that, it was nothing, and after I just went upstairs to get something from our room" he said smoothly.

Not believing him she continued her questioning "Who was on the phone?"

"Some pranksters trying to play a trick on me, like I said it's nothing" he said.

"What'd they say" she asked him, leaning against the counter on the opposite side of him.

"Some lie about my parents being dead" he said looking away.

"Troy, are you sure it was a prank" she asked him, realizing the true problem.

"Yes Gabriella" he said through his gritted teeth. "I'm perfectly sure that my parents are fully alive and in good health" he said getting  
off of the counter.

"Now are we through?" he asked, putting back on a smile. She just nodded silently not being able to come up with words to say to her husband, who was refusing to accept the truth.

* * *

"Mommy, is there more cake?" Brie asked the next morning as she walked into the kitchen with her brother.

"Brie, it's not good to eat cake in the morning" Gabriella told her daughter as she placed two plates on the counter as her children sat in the  
stools.

"Well can we eat it for lunch?" asked Troy Jr., stuffing a spoonful of eggs into his mouth.

"We'll have some for dinner, okay?" Gabriella said leaning back against the counter, taking a sip from her coffee.

Troy walked into the kitchen in his team sweat suit and went straight for the food. After making himself a plate, he stood next to his wife, facing his children.

"Grandma and Grandpa are picking you guys up from school today, okay?"

"Okay daddy" they both answered. Gabriella gazed at Troy strangely.

"Troy, I thought your parents passed away" she whispered to him. He chuckled darkly.

"Where'd you hear that from? They're definitely alive Ella, don't be silly" he said, sitting down in one of the stools next to his children. Refusing to discuss this in front of their kids Gabriella headed upstairs. When she entered their room the phone rang and she sat on the bed as she  
answered.

"Hello?"

"This is Officer Dempsey of the Chaplain Unit here in Albuquerque. May Iask who I am speaking to?" he said politely.

"This is Gabriella Bolton. Is there a problem?" Gabriella asked.

"Well yes, I've attempted to speak to your husband yesterday but as expected the news was very shocking" the officer explained.

"What news exactly, sir?"

"The death of his parents unfortunately" said the officer.

"What happened?" she asked, feeling remorse toward her husband who was now grieving in his own way.

"It was a head on car crash, they were killed instantly" he stated.

Tears fell freely from her face as she remembered the last conversation she had with them.

_(Flashback)_

_"So you're definitely coming?" Gabriella asked._

_"We wouldn't miss for the world Gabriella" Troy's mother, Lucille said on the other line._

_"And it's a very sweet thing you're doing for him Gabriella. We always knew you were a keeper" said Jack Bolton. Gabriella laughed._

_"It's nothing really Jack. It's the least I could do" she responded._

_"But don't worry Gabriella we'll be there. Our only dilemma is figuring out what to get him" Lucille said, chuckling._

_"He hasn't seen you guys in a while so your presence will already be a  
gift" Gabriella answered._

_"Why thank you Gabriella. So we'll see you then" Lucille said._

_"Okay, talk to you later Lucille"_

_(End Flashback_

"He will need to come down to my office to make some funeral arrangements" said Officer Dempsey.

"Now's not a good time but when he's ready I'll contact you" Gabriella said wiping her eyes, getting ready to face her husband again as she  
heard steps coming up the stairs.

"Okay, thanks you for your time Ms. Bolton. Have a good day" said Detective Dempsey as he hung up. Gabriella took a deep breath and went into  
the bathroom, trying to avoid another conversation for the moment.

"Gabriella" Troy called out as he entered the room.

"I'm in the bathroom" she replied as she cleaned up her face. He opened the door and stood in the doorway.

"What are you doing?" he asked her just as she opened the cabinet.

"Putting on some make up" she lied as she shuffled through the items trying to find something to back up her fib.

"You already had on make up" he told her becoming suspicious.

"Well you know us women, can't get enough of that make up" she said walking toward the door.

"You're lying to me. How about you tell me what's going on?" he asked  
her stretching his arm across the exit.

"How about you tell me" she answered wittily. He looked away.

"There's nothing to tell" he said, his voice suddenly becoming low.

"Troy it's not doing any good to—"

"I have to get to the gym. Don't bother picking up the kids, my parents are doing it" he told her as he headed to the stairs. Gabriella leaned her head back against the door.

_This has to stop_ she thought.

* * *

Later that night Troy just finished cooking dinner and was setting the table just as his wife and kids walked in.

"Hi daddy!" Brie shouted as she ran into the kitchen.

"Hey princess how was school" he said as he lifted her up.

"It was fun! We played lots of games" she said with a huge smile on her  
face.

"I want to be picked up too!" Troy Jr. complained, stomping his foot.

"Of course junior, I couldn't forget my little man" he said picking up his son as well. They all laughed as Troy began to spin around. Gabriella  
watched the scene from the doorway. She had yet to fathom how Troy was so good at masking his inner feelings.

"So you cooked?" she asked, shaking the thoughts from her head.

"Yeah, just some spaghetti and meatball, nothing big. So why'd you pick up the kids?" he asked putting the twins down. Gabriella sighed.

"Troy come here" Gabriella commanded as she walked back into the living room. He followed her and sat on the couch.

"Troy we need to deal with this" she said seriously.

"Deal with what" he said stubbornly.

"Troy I know what's going on but please this not the way to go about it" Gabriella said shaking her head.

"I have no idea what you're talking about" he said shrugging.

"Troy this denial thing, that's what I'm talking about!" she said, her voice elevated.

"Gabi you shouldn't raise your voice the kids are in there" he said.

"Troy seriously, just let me help" Gabriella pleaded, holding his hand. He looked away for a second then turned back to her.

Accept what Gabriella?!" he said standing up abruptly, snapping finally."Accept the fact that the two people in this world that mean the most to me are gone? That the people that stood by me in the darkest time in my life can no longer be by my side! Well excuse me if I don't want to accept it Gabriella!" he yelled at her then stomped his way up the stairs.

Gabriella raised her knees and wrapped her hands around them, tears falling from her eyes. At this moment she felt so powerless and vulnerable and it just killed her inside. She could hear her children calling her from the kitchen but right now she no longer felt like an adult she was a child. And she couldn't handle this.

* * *

Later that night in his bedroom Troy stared at the white clock which read 11:35. He knew he should be sleeping since he had basketball practice at 7:30 in the morning. But his parent's death kept him awake. He knew that if he was late again he would be benched for next week's game but that didn't really matter to him. Stupid coach, all he cared about was winning just like his father when he was in high school. He remembered his father being a strict coach and making him practice a lot and made him practice extra harder but he knew he did that because he loved him. He wanted him to have a successful basketball career and now look where he is now; he has a successful NBA career, fame and fortune not to mention his loving wife and kids whom he loves very much. And it was all thanks to his father.

He remembered his mother wanting him to do well in school and making sure hehad a great education by helping him study and hire a tutor 7 days a week after school. He also knew that she only did those things because she loves him and wanted him to be a successful adult. In high school he was a straight A and B student. All thanks to his mother for the effort and money she put into his education and for that he was really grateful. He had loving and wonderful parents till now.

Now he wasn't even sure if he wanted to continue basketball. The fun sport reminded him of his father too much. It was too painful to think about his father especially the most thing that reminded of his father was the strict NBA coach. The coach was strict with basketball like his dad but was way stricter than his father, the kind of coach that needed to go out more to loosen up. Troy didn't even want to deal with him since all Coach would do was yell at him, make him run more suicides and bench him in the next game. He wouldn't understand what it feels to have your parents die on your birthday. No one in the team could understand his pain that he was feeling.

It was his fault that his parents died. It was because of him that they had an urge to go to his party because it was his birthday and they wouldn't miss it for anything in the world because they loved him so much. Maybe if he wasn't born then his parents wouldn't have to worry about birthdays, doctor appointments, dentists, child safety, making healthy meals, money and education then they wouldn't have anything to worry about. Troy felt so guilty that tears were streaming down his face. It was his fault that his parents died and maybe just maybe if it wasn't his birthday then they wouldn't be driving to his house. They would be staying home watching DVDS, snuggling each other in their soft warm blankets.

Maybe if Gabriella hadn't thrown that stupid surprise party then they wouldn't end up in a fatal crash. Now that's it, it was all her fault not his. Wait, scratch that out. He couldn't blame her after all the money and hard work that she put into the party just for him, he didn't have the courage to badmouth his wife. Oh, great, his birthday and badmouthing Gabriella made him extra guilty.

Suddenly Troy's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the door cracking open. He quickly put wiped his tears away not wanting whoever was at the door to see how sad, depressed and guilty he was.

"Hey" A female voice greeted him quietly.

Troy turned his head to face his wife standing at the doorway looking very awkward and kind of nervous. Should he talk to her? The two hadn't spoken to each other since their fall out this evening. He decided to talk to her since she was his roommate, wife and mother of his kids. Troy couldn't avoid her forever and he felt bad for yelling at her, all she tried to do was help him but all he did was scream right in her face.

"Hey" He greeted back softly, his face quickly masking his emotions.

She closed the door quietly. "I'm just going to go get ready for bed"

Troy nodded." I'm gonna go to sleep now"

She nodded her head and proceeded towards the bathroom. Troy laid himself in his bed facing the other side of the room and pulled up the comforters up to his warm body, hearing the water run in the bathroom.

The door flew open and footsteps could be heard. Gabriella spotted her husband lying on the bed facing the other side. She wondered if she could get him to talk about his feelings as she pulled up comforters and laid in the bed turning to face the bathroom and snuggled under the comforters. She debated whether to talk to him or not but finally decided to talk to him.

"Troy" She called out gently to him, hoping he was still awake.

"Hmm" Came her husband's reply.

"Can we talk?" She asked.

Troy rolled over in his bed to face Gabriella. "What do you want to talk about?"

"I want to talk about why you don't talk to me about your parent's death. I want to help you, I love you too damn much to keep seeing you bottle your feelings up" She spoke more boldly.

"What if I don't want to talk about it?" He gritted his teeth as he clenched the comforters in his hands as anger boiled up inside his body. He  
was getting pissed off because Gabriella was trying to help him once again. Troy was sick and tired of her trying to help him when he did not want to be helped.

"Look Troy, I can understand what your going through," Gabriella stated.

"No you don't Gabriella. You don't know what its like to have both of your parents die on your birthday. You should be thankful that you still have  
your mom" Troy snapped.

"No Troy, I can understand what you're going through," She took a deep breath before continuing. "At least you didn't have to watch your dad die. When I was 11, I was out playing catch with my dad and I threw the ball so far that it went out into the streets. I wanted to go get it but my dad didn't want me to just because he wanted me safe then when he went out into the streets but as he bent down a truck was driving down the road and the driver didn't see him and then the next thing I knew, bam he was hit by a car. It was horrible, my dad was lying unconscious all bloody and pale and I tried to wake him up but he just wouldn't wake up"

"So I ran out to get my mom and she called 911 and when the ambulance took him, he went into cardiac arrest then when we arrived at the hospital, the doctors pronounced him dead," She finished her story, tears falling out of her sparkly, chocolate brown eyes.

Troy was grateful that he had his dad long enough to see his grandchildren. He felt a pang of sympathy. It must have been much more painful seeing your father get hit by a car than to hear about it.

"Come here" He said quietly as he calmed down, opening his arms wide for a hug.

She put her head on Troy's chest as he wrapped his arms around her torso she cried. "I just wanted to help you. I hate seeing you like this. I know that you didn't deserve your parents dying in car crash on your birthday"

Troy kissed her tenderly on the cheek as he made circles around her back. "I'm so sorry baby. It's just that I want to deal with this on my own  
and it's my fault that they died. Maybe if I wasn't born then they wouldn't have anything to deal with"

Gabriella pulled out of his hug. "Troy don't even say that. Its no one's fault, it was just an accident and there was nothing you could do about it"

"Yeah, but I can't help but feel responsible" Troy says sighing.

"Troy, it was their decision to come to the party because they wanted to celebrate your special day with you because they love you. So don't ever  
think that"

"Speaking of parties. Maybe it was your fault because you threw that stupid surprise party. If it wasn't for the party, they would've stayed home watching DVDs in their living room" Troy mumbled, anger boiling up his body.

He looked at the other direction, attempting to avoid her eyes. It was her fault that his parents died, her and her stupid party. He knew what he thought and said was awful but he felt like it was her fault because if it wasn't for the party then they wouldn't be dead right now

She just laid there, tears streaming down her face. All her work for nothing, how much love, money and hard work she put into the party and all he could do was say that her party was stupid right in front of her face while she was trying to comfort him. She understood that he was devastated by his parents' death but she never knew how he could be a jerk in his own grieving way. Gabriella couldn't believe that he insulted the party that she threw because she wanted his birthday to be special and yet he still wasn't satisfied.

Gabriella wiped away her tears. She just couldn't understand why Troy wouldn't tell his feelings to her. He usually hadn't had a problem with sharing his feelings with her in high school but now he has a problem with it. She wished she knew the reason why Troy doesn't want to tell her. Gabriella turned her head and stared at her broken, hurt and scared husband. Troy had definitely changed over the years. In high school, he didn't have a problem confronting about their relationship when something goes wrong. But nowadays, he usually would bottle up his feelings or do something that he would regret  
without even giving it a thought.

All she wanted to do was comfort her husband, hold him, kiss him softly, rubhis stomach, stroke his hair, tell him that everything would be okay, tell him that they could go through this together, whisper in his ear comforting words, hug him and anything else that could involve comforting him. Unfortunately, she wouldn't be able to do that anytime soon by the way that Troy was behaving. She wished that her husband's parents were at the birthday party safe and sound instead of being in a car crash. Why did this have to happen to him? He didn't deserve it, he was a good, loving man and something terrible had to happen to him.

She couldn't deal with anymore drama that Troy was giving her. "I'm sleeping on the couch" Gabriella announced and made her way out of the bedroom without Troy saying a word to her. But before she could do that she grabbed a few extra pillows and a blanket then made her way to the dark living room.

Gabriella took out the pull out couch then spread the pillows and blankets and then she finally laid herself in the couch. She snuggled under the warm blankets.

She closed her eyes waiting for sleep to overcome her, wondering why her husband had to be going through this.

**A/N 2pinkstar: Review and tell us what you think**


	5. The five stages of grief

**Stranger 2- Chapter 5**

**Dislamior: We don't own anything except this story and any unfamiliar characters.**

**A/N 2pinkstar- We're back with a new chapter and we're sorry for getting the chapter so late. It was hard to find some information that we need and it was hard coming up with a idea for this chapter and we're just so busy with our own stories especially since I have to work on other stories you have be familiar with such as How could you say you love me. Since school's coming up soon, we might not have the time to update frequently as often we wish too but you know school is. Btw, ZAC EFRON SHOULD HAVE WON!!!!!!!. IF ZAC GETS NOMINTAED NEXT SUMMER AS MALE HOTTIE, VOTE, VOTE, VOTE, VOTE, VOTE FOR ZAC!. I get that Robert is cute but not as cute as Zac. Nobody, I mean nobody can beat Zac well maybe except Taylor Launter but I think think Zac's way more hotter. Just stating my thoughts. Did you know that Dane cook was on stage and made a joke saying Vanessa please keep you clothes on, that was totally disrespectful. Once mistake and all she gets is bad publicity. I get Miley and Vanessa have a lot of younger fans look up to her but people need to chill about it. There just normal human being with feelings, they make mistakes just like everyone else. Their just like us except there have a different lifestyle. Anyway, thanks for the reviews and keep up with the reviews!. : )**

* * *

"Mommy, Mommy, Mommy" came the eager voices.

Gabriella groaned, hearing the eager voices, and began shifting in the sofa bed.

"Wake up mommy, wake up mommy" Two voices chorused.

She felt herself being shaken and could feel the couch move, almost as if someone was jumping it.

"Wake up, Mommy, wake up Mommy" the two voices repeated.

Ugh, she'd have to get up sooner or later, so why not now? Gabriella's eyelids fluttered open, seeing two small blurry bodies. She blinked her eyes to clear her vision and saw Brie and Troy Jr. jumping on the bed in their pajamas.

Gabriella smiled tiredly and pulled her kids down on the bed, tickling them.

"Why are you up so early and how did you found me?" Gabriella questioned, tickling them.

"Mommy!" Brie squealed giggling.

"We always sneak downstairs to watch TV before you guys wake up" Troy Jr. explained.

"You two are quite the sneaky kiddos, aren't ya?" Gabriella replied back, still tickling them.

"Mommy, stop" The four year olds cried out ever so cutely.

"Oh, all right," Gabriella smiled, sitting up on the sofa bed. "Why don't I dress up while you two head to the kitchen and wait for me there?"

"Ok, mommy" The two kids chorused.

She picked up the kids carrying them in her arms, getting up from the bed then dropping them on the ground gently.

"Wait for me in the kitchen" Gabriella ordered.

"Ok, mommy" The two kids chorused,

"Hey, Troy, last one to the kitchen is a rotten egg" Brie challenged.

"You're on" Troy Jr. replied back.

Gabriella chuckled as she watched them run into the kitchen then she looked down at her stomach, lightly patting it." I can't wait for you to pop out, little one"

She pulled her head back up, walked towards the bed, picked up the pillows and blankets and then turned it back into the couch then walked up the steps of the stairs.

When she finally got up the stairs, she slowly opened the door and tiptoed quietly and carefully trying not to wake her husband up, closing the door gently and silently behind her. Gabriella looked at the bed to see if her husband was still asleep but then found the bed empty, hearing the water running from the bathroom.

She sighed in relief that she didn't have to deal with him until breakfast. She walked over to her closet, walking inside and closing it behind her. Gabriella put the extra pillows and blanket away then changed into a black juicy couture tracksuit.

Gabriella walked out of the closet then quickly zoomed out the bedroom. She walked back downstairs and walked into the kitchen seeing the kids chatting together. The sight made Gabriella smile, seeing siblings get along wasn't something that'd you see everyday.

She walked towards the cupboard, opened them and took out a measuring cup, a teaspoon, oil, a bowl, a mixer and a box of pancake mix.

"Do you want guys want pancakes?"

The kids nodded and Gabriella closed the cupboards, setting the cooking materials down on the kitchen counter then turned on the stove.

"Are they done yet?" Troy Jr. questioned impatiently, after watching his mother cook for a few minutes.

"No, only 10 more minutes till their done" Gabriella replied back, setting plates down then sitting down and chatted with them as they waited

After a couple of minute she got herself up and walked over to cupboards, grabbing three cups and three plates. Gabriella picked up the carton of milk from the refrigerator and walked back to the cups and filled the two of them with milk then put the milk back. Gabriella picked up cups and plates and walked over to the table, placing them on the table. Then she placed the pancakes from the frying pan into one large plate.

Gabriella picked up the plate with the freshly, baked, hot and steamy buttery pancakes and carried it over the table.

"Pancakes are done" She announced, placing the plate on the kitchen table.

"Mommy, you forgot the forks and spoon" Brie informed her mother.

She noticed it and rushed over to the drawers and grabbed a couple of them along with napkins then rushed back and placing each pair of spoon and fork next to each plate.

Gabriella ran back to the drawers, realizing she needed a knife and rushed back. She picked up one pancake and placed it on her daughter's plate then picked up another pancake and placed it on her son's plate. Gabriella carefully sliced her son's pancakes into tiny pieces.

"Do you want syrup" She questioned her kids.

"Yes" The two four year olds responded back.

Gabriella walked over to the refrigerator and grabbed the syrup and rushed back to her son.

"I wanna squeeze, Mommy, I wanna squeeze" The four old boy whined.

"Okay, okay but be careful" She warned her song and gave the bottle to Troy Jr. watching her son squeeze the syrup.

"Okay, that's enough" She replied as she gently grabbed the bottle.

She picked up a knife and fork, quickly cutting her daughter's pancakes into tiny pieces.

"Do you want to squeeze?" Gabriella questioned her daughter in case if she wanted too.

"Yes, Mommy" Her daughter answered.

"Okay, here you go" Gabriella handed the syrup to her daughter.

When she was finished she grabbed the syrup from them. "Okay, kids go eat up"

She want back right over to the kitchen counter, turning of the coffee maker to make coffee and walked right back the table. She picked up two pancakes and placed into her plate and quickly began eating her food.

"This is yummy, mommy" Brie told her mother.

"Thank you, sweetie" Gabriella replied back sweetly.

As soon as the coffee was she rushed over to the kitchen counter, quickly making herself a cup of coffee then sat back in her chair.

But at the right moment, her husband walked into kitchen, sneaking a glance his family.

"Morning, everyone" He greeted awkwardly.

"Morning, daddy" The kids greeted.

Gabriella stared right back to her pancakes chewing quietly as Troy walked over to the kitchen counter fixing himself a cup of coffee then walking back to the kitchen table.

He got right back up and got himself pancakes, chewing them in uncomfortable silence.

Fortunately, Gabriella broke the silence. "Are you guys ready to go back to school?"

"Yeah mommy, Twoy and me are gonna play with our friends and singing nursery rhymes" Brie told them excitedly.

"That sounds like fun" Gabriella told her, with the same level of excitement

"Its Troy and I" Troy corrected his daughter.

"Sorry daddy" Brie apologized feeling bad for her slight mistake.

"There's nothing to be sorry about, I was just correcting your mistake" Troy told her feeling guilty for making his daughter feel bad.

"Okay, daddy" Brie replied back.

Soon enough, the two kids began chattering with each other, leaving the two adults in silence.

Gabriella chewed her pancakes in silence and stared right back at her plate again feeling very awkward. While Troy gulped down his coffee, the liquid burning his throat but still tasting good.

Halfway through their breakfast, the kids noticed the tension between their parents.

"What's wrong, mommy and daddy?" Troy jr. questioned his parents, curiosity taking over him, wondering why his parents weren't talking to each other since they usually talked to each other every single day.

"Yeah, why aren't you talking to each other?" Brie questioned.

Troy and Gabriella quickly panicked, not wanting to alarm their kids. Gabriella quickly attempted to answer her daughter's question "We are, it's just that we have to eat quickly so we can hurry up and take you to school"

Troy sighed in relief then remembered something important. "Which reminds me, are you going to take them to school or will I?"

"You know that I have to get ready and get to work" Gabriella told him, her eyes going back to her plate.

"Oh" Troy replied.

10 minutes later Gabriella took one last bite before getting up from her seat and walking over to the kitchen sink, quickly dropping her empty plate and cup. She walked over to the kitchen table and gave a quick kiss on her kid's cheek and checked the clock. "I'll see you three, when I get home from work, okay?"

"Okay, bye mommy, I love you" Troy jr. said waving goodbye.

"Bye, mommy and I love you more" Brie said waving goodbye also.

"No I love her more" Troy Jr. argued.

"No, I love mommy more than you" Brie argued back.

"Nuh uh!" Troy Jr. argued.

"Uh huh" Troy Jr. argued back.

The twins continued to argue while Gabriella sighed and broke the fight. "Guys, you both love me equally and be good to your-" She stopped herself, her chocolate eyes fixed on Troy who's blue eyes were staring right at her.

"Father" She finished with no emotion in her voice.

The twins stopped arguing and stared at their mother. "Do you guys love each other"?"

Gabriella's heart ached, she didn't want her kids upset over their fight and now they think their parents didn't love each other anymore. It broke her heart.

"What makes you ask that?" Troy asked, trying to mask his apprehension.

"Well, you guys aren't speaking to each other" Brie answered.

"Well we do, it's just that we don't have time to talk to each other right now," Troy answered feeling his heart ache at the thought of his kids thinking they didn't love each other. The couple knew that they loved each other no matter what but it's just that they hadn't made up since last night's fall out and didn't know when they were going to make up "Right?"

"Right, now I uh, gotta go and shower or I'll be late for work" Gabriella quickly answered rushing out of the room, making any excuse to leave.

Troy sighed and turned to watch his wife walk up the stairs. He took a deep breath then turned back to his kids.

"So are you guys ready to go?" he said, feigning excitement.

"Yes daddy" they both said getting off of their chairs and walking out of the kitchen.

"Okay, have a good day guys" Troy said plainly, as his children hugged him good bye then hopped out the car.

As Troy drove farther away from the school he realized that he no longer felt like going to work. He no longer felt like working at all. He began to drive around aimlessly. He hated the fact that he couldn't focus on an action right now, because that gave him more time to think. He began to think about his parents.

The more he thought the angrier he got. Why did they have to drive to see him? Why couldn't they wait until he visited them? He began to get angry at his parents for putting themselves in so much danger, rather than staying away from it. He shook those thought from his head. He already tried to blame someone and it hurt both of them. However he could not resist the feeling to blame some one for causing him this much pain. Then the answer popped in his head the only person he could blame was …himself, now to make some apologies.

* * *

"Tay, he blamed me for his parents' death! He said if I hadn't thrown that stupid party they wouldn't have died! Do you know how much work I put into that entire party?" Gabriella exclaimed, as she dropped her head onto her desk as her friend rubbed her back.

"Gabi, he didn't mean it he was just letting out his feelings of anger and you just happened to be next to him." Taylor said, trying to console her friend.

"But I just wanted to comfort him and he threw it right back in my face" she said a couple of tears escaping her eyes.

"Don't cry honey, class starts in five minutes" Taylor said lifting Gabriella's head up.

"But Tay, he's keeps changing how he feels. One day he's denying everything the next day he's angry about everything and blaming people. I just don't know what to do!" Gabriella said leaning back in her chair, covering her face with her hands.

"Everyone has their own way of dealing with grief. This is just his way of handling it" Taylor said sitting on top of Gabriella's desk.

"Well I want to help him but he's just bottling up his feelings and isolating himself" Gabriella said, releasing a sigh.

"That's apart of his grieving. It'll pass by, just give him time" Taylor said softly, in an effort to cheer up her friend. However, Gabriella wasn't completely sure that this would blow over, and that's what she feared most. Seeing the look in Gabriella's eyes Taylor pulled out a sheet of paper from her bag and handed it over. "Here I looked it up on the internet and this is what I found out"

"The Five Stages of Grief" Gabriella said, reading the title of the article aloud. As she began to read the bell rang and students began shuffling into class.

"Read it and talk to me at lunch" Taylor said, exiting the room. Gabriella just nodded and continued reading.

"Mrs. Bolton" her student Evan said from beside her desk.

"Yes Evan" she answered looking up at him.

"I finished the play and I'm starting to understand the bond between Romeo and Juliet" he said proudly.

"Oh really" Gabriella asked raising her eyebrows.

"Yeah it's like they love each other so much that no matter what happens they'll always be together. It's like nothing can break them apart. But I also learned it's not real, I mean come on even the closest lovers break up over something." He said shrugging.

"I don't know about that Evan. I don't expect a sixteen year old to know about love anyway. But just so you know some couples love each other so much that no matter what they're dealing with, they can make it through" Gabriella said slowly, smiling as she realized that she was describing her own relationship.

"Whatever" Evan said, not paying much attention to what his teacher said. Then he gazed down at her paper and suddenly became more serious.

"Mrs. Bolton did your husband die?" he boldly asked, jumping to conclusions.

"No, Evan of course not, I'm just reading something I picked up" Gabriella said stuffing the paper in one of her drawers.

"You sure?" Evan asked curiously. Gabriella suddenly laughed realizing that he believed she was in denial.

"I'm completely sure Evan. And you know, it's not good to read other people's things without their permission" Gabriella chastised him, causing him to nervously look away.

"Sorry Mrs. Bolton, I'm guess I better go sit now" Evan said, backing up.

"Yes, you do that" Gabriella said standing up and going to the chalk board. After writing the aim on the board she turned back to the class.

"So today we're going to be discussing the theme of—" she stopped herself as someone began knocking on the door. A student went to the door and opened it and gasped as she saw Troy Bolton in the doorway, team sweat suit and all.

"So he is alive!" Evan exclaimed standing up.

"Sit down Evan!" Gabriella shouted, still not facing the doorway.

"Mrs. Bolton I don't mean to interrupt your class but may I speak to you for a second" Troy said looking directly at his wife.

"I can't leave my class alone" Gabriella said looking down at a book on her desk.

"It's okay, we'll be on our best behavior" said a female student, looking at Troy but talking to Gabriella. Gabriella gave up and walked toward the door.

"Start your independent reading" Gabriella announced as she walked out of the room, her husband following behind her. She leaned against the wall in the hallway, her head slightly tilted, looking to the side. Troy walked in front of her and placed his arms on the wall, closing her in. He leaned in so that their faces nearly touched.

"I'm sorry" he whispered, loud enough for her to hear. His blue eyes digging deep into her brown ones. She turned her head and he turned it back.

"Talk to me, please" he pleaded, real emotion filling his voice.

"What do want me to say Troy?" she said her eyes burning through his.

"I want you to say something." Troy said.

"Okay then, fine I will say something. You don't know how much what you said hurt me. I started planning that party months before, just to make sure everything was perfect for you. Then to just hear you call it stupid, made me feel horrible. Then on top of that you blamed me for your parents' death. That hurts Troy, it really does" she said, blinking back the tears threatening to fall.

"I'm sorry, I'm really sorry. I regret everything that I said, it was all a lie and I was just being an idiot. None of it is true and I'm really sorry hurt you, I truly am. It's just that my mind is going all over the place and I'm just not thinking straight" Troy said his voice soft, and with actual feeling.

"It's okay, I forgive you. I know that you have to deal with this in your own way and I really shouldn't take anything you say to heart" Gabriella said, her hand placing itself on his cheek.

"It's not that you should think everything I say I don't mean it's just that I just don't know what I'm saying most of the time" Troy said slowly, trying to make sense of his words.

"You don't pay attention to what you're doing either" Gabriella said smiling "Coming into your old high school that has people who think you're a legend and tons of your fans instead of going to work isn't such a bright idea"

"Well I needed to talk to you. I just wanted to let you know that you're not the blame for anything" he said "I am"

"Troy I thought we talked about this. There is no possible way this was your fault" Gabriella said seriously.

"But you don't understand, Gabriella. If it wasn't for me my parents would still be alive. I really thought about it and I realized there's no one to blame but me" Troy said turning his head.

"But remember what you said, you're not thinking straight" Gabriella said trying to talk her husband out of this idea.

"But I think I am thinking straight, I really am. It's like a revelation that just came to me. There would be no party if I was never born, if I was never born they wouldn't be driving to the house and they'd still be alive. If I were dead, they'd be alive right now" he said speaking quickly.

"Troy you're scaring me, get this whole idea out of your head" Gabriella said cupping her hands around his face. He removed them from his face and put them to her side.

"No it's perfectly clear now. I have no right to blame anyone but me" he said, his voice becoming grim. He slowly backed away and Gabriella tried to pull him back but he pushed her hand away.

"Troy, it is not your fault, and you've got to stop thinking that or you can seriously hurt yourself emotionally" Gabriella said following Troy as he began to walk down the hallway.

"I'll take my chances" he said, as he pushed open one of the exit doors. Gabriella stopped and watched the door close, sighing as she walked back to her classroom. Her class watched her as she walked back and sat in her desk, none of them paying attention to their books.

"Just read for the rest of the period" Gabriella told her class pulling out the paper Taylor gave her earlier. The rest of the period was in silence, no one daring to speak.

It was dinner time and the family was sitting down and eating in silence. The twins fidgeted in their seats and Gabriella glancing at Troy nervously every couple of minutes.

"I need you guys to go up to your rooms after dinner, okay" Gabriella told her kids, looking up from her plate.

"Why mommy?" Brie whined dropping her spoon.

"A visitor—" Gabriella was interrupted.

"A visitor?" Troy questioned, turning to his wife.

"Yes, a visitor" she said, not revealing any information. "So you guys should go upstairs and play for a little while"

"Okay mommy" the twins said together, obediently. Troy looked at his wife, one eyebrow raised and she just turned and gave him a fake smile. The kids watched their father, their faces perplexed but both deciding to not say anything.

After about twenty minutes the bell rang and Gabriella went to get it. A short, thin man in a business suit entered the living room and Gabriella gestured for him to sit down. Being respectful to their mother's wishes the twins went up to their room and Troy walked into the living room and sat next to his wife.

"Hello my name is Brian, you must be Troy" the man said shaking Troy's hand.

"Yes I am, and if you don't mind me asking what are you doing here?" Troy asked as he released Brian's hand.

"Well I am the insurance agent and now the funeral director of your parents" Brian said placing his briefcase on the coffee table between them. "And I'm here to help make your job easier"

Troy turned to his wife. With every fiber in his body, he tried not to get angry but it was becoming more difficult by the minute. Gabriella could see the anger boiling up inside him but focused on Brian, knowing that she'd have to be the responsible adult here.

"So what do we start with?" Gabriella asked Brian.

"I already did some things. For example the transfer of the bodies was already made, as was the certificate of death. I've also notified all of their insurance companies and banks. However I thought that I'd get your input for a couple of other things" Brian said taking out some papers from his briefcase.

"Such as?" asked Troy, an ounce of anger in his voice. Brian ignored the tone of his voice.

"Well it will take place in my funeral home, but when will it be?" he asked them both.

"In two days" Troy said brusquely. Gabriella gave him a questioning look.

"You sure you don't want to give it some time?" Gabriella asked her husband.

"Yes I'm sure" he said, then turned back to Brian "In two days"

"Well how about you guys get back to me after you've made your final decision?" Brian said.

"No, the decision is mine there will be no compromising. I want to get this over with" Troy said in a final tone, causing an eerie silence afterward.

"Well, um what about the casket, the choosing of pallbearers, and arrangement of flowers?" Brian asked, breaking the silence.

"Keep everything basic or original or whatever you call it. Just keep it simple and don't go over board" Troy said standing up.

"We're not done yet Troy" Brian said looking up at him.

"Actually I think we are, nice to meet you Brian. I'll see you in two days" Troy said shaking Brian's hand. Brian went along with Troy and stood up, grabbing his briefcase.

"Please excuse my husband. It is a very difficult time for him" Gabriella said walking Brian to the door.

"It's completely fine. I'd be worried if he was acting normal. Just be sure to call me if he decides to change the date" Brian said standing in the doorway.

"Which will never happen" Troy said from behind, leaning against the wall.

"I'll be sure to call you" Gabriella said kindly. She closed the door and looked back at her husband her eyes narrowed, her hands at her hips.

"What'd I do?" he asked, shrugging.

"Troy please make an effort to do this. I really could use your help" she pleaded walking up to him.

"I am helping" Troy argued walking toward the stairs "Just one step at a time okay"

Gabriella just stood there helplessly watching the love of her love go up the stairs grieving in his own way.

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**A/N 2pinkstar- yeah, I typed the ending of the chapter. I wrote Gabriella just stood there helplessly and so on. Lame, I now, but I couldn't of anything. But I'm so stressed right now, not only I have to deal with this story but I have too deal with the two other stories so which means, I'm going to end how could you say you love me so instead of two chapters left, I decided to make it the last chapter cuz its less the hassle. Anyway, review and tell us what you think!. Btw, read Samantha1024 tears of a wildcat, its really good. Btw, I got some exciting news to share you, a new story is on the way, I'm going to start working on the story for a bit before I post it. I won't post it till I finish how could you say you love me and There's no place like Albuquerque. I won't give much details but I will be posting a teaser trailer of it as soon as I finish the How could you say you love me. I'm so excited.**


	6. Somber

**Stranger 2: Pain is not for Gain**

**Disclaimer: I only own parts of the plot and unfamiliar characters.**

**A/N 2pinkstar: In the words Samantha1024, WE ARE HORRIBLE AUTHORS for not updating and slacking on writing chapters. The slacking part is me cuz i'm the one who's usually slacking. We are very truly sorry for not updating for like what three to four months??. Its a long story that consists of me being and lazy and her busy with other stuff. We really really hope that you didn't forget this story because the last timr we updated was last Augest and now its like only two days away from December. Unfortunately, i'm dealing with two stories and something else that's fanfiction related, so i might not be able to update as much as i want to. So yeah just wanted to clear something out for you. OMG, i almost forgot to thank you guys for the reviews. It means alot to us plus we love getting feedback. lol. Anyway, i should shut up now so you could read. I don't think....ahh, shut up. i don't want to spoil it for you guys. Enjoy!!.  
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Gabriella stood in her beautiful, frilly black dress, black heels, and black purse in her hands with her hair straightened in front of the mirror looking at her reflection.

Taking a deep breath, she twirled strands of her hair, thinking about how Troy was going to react during the funeral. She turned and gazed at the alarm clock that stood in her lamp stand next to her bed. The clock read 1:30 PM

_Where is Troy?_ She wondered. The funeral was going to start in 30 minutes. She hoped that he wouldn't find some way to avoid to the funeral but of course he had to attend his own parents' funeral. She continued to think that happened to Mr. and Mrs. Bolton and Troy was unfair. They both just didn't deserve it.

"Troy, are you ready?" Gabriella called out. "The funeral is about to start in 30 minutes."

"I'm coming, I'm coming" Troy's gruff voice yelled out from the bathroom.

Moments later, Troy walked out of the bathroom in tux and formal shoes with his hair perfectly gelled and styled.

He silently walked towards the dressing table and grabbed the keys and murmured "Let's go"

Gabriella nodded and both walked out the bathroom door and into the living room to where the twins were.

"Are you guys ready?" She questioned her kids.

"Yuppy" Brie said cutely in her little black dress with a white strap in the middle, white dress shoes and a white bow in her hair.

"Yes" The four year boy mumbled in his tux and dress shoes.

"Great, now let's go"

The family walked out of the house, slamming the door behind them, walking towards the car.

Troy immediately got into the car without any word and started the engine on, while Gabriella helped the kids inside the car. When the kids were inside, she got in the passenger seat and slammed the car door. The car backed out of the driveway and drove out the road.

No one spoke for the whole car ride.

30 minutes later the car came to a halt stop in the funeral's parking lot. People outside in their formal wear were either walking inside the funeral home or just stood in the parking lot mingling with one another. Cars were parked or trying to look for an empty spot.

Troy turned the engine off and got out and helped his kids out of the car, while Gabriella was deep in thought while doing her touch-up. She was scared. Troy hadn't spoken throughout the whole ride. Whenever he grieved, it wasn't a good thing. It was different each time. For example, four to five years ago, when he thought she supposedly cheated on him with a co-worker, he grieved by getting revenge on her. He abused her emotionally, he treated her horrible. He cheated on her, treated her like she meant nothing, called her bad names, accused her when something was missing and he even one time slapped her in the face; That had gotten too far.

_What if he did the same things to her but worse?_ She shook her thoughts away. Gabriella knew better than that, she knew he wouldn't ever do that again especially to his kids, the kids. What if-

_Oh shut up Gabriella, you're so much better than this. You know he wouldn't do that._ She thought to herself bitterly.

"Uh, Gabriella, its time to go in" Troy's unemotional voice interrupted her thoughts.

"Oh, uh right, let's go in" Gabriella mumbled in a complete daze.

He didn't even bother to ask her what was wrong which made her even more scared. Troy grabbed his son's hand while Gabriella grabbed her daughter's hand.

The couple in the middle and each twin on either side of them, they walked into the funeral home. Out of the corner in her eye, she noticed that Troy's eyes were fixated on the two caskets that stood in the front of the church. A framed picture of Mr. and Mrs. Bolton stood on each casket.

They took their seats and immediately the service began. 10 minutes later into the service everyone was crying except the twins, who had no idea what was going.

It was an awkward position to be sitting between your weeping parents especially when you have no idea what was going on.

When it was time for Troy to go up, he took deep breaths before wiping his tears away trying his best not to cry in front of anyone. He couldn't believe he was going to be up at the podium at his own parents' funeral at such a young age. It should be him, not them. They were too young.

Before he could go on, Gabriella pulled him towards her and whispered. "Don't focus on everyone. Look at me when you do your speech. Good luck, I love you and don't worry, everything will be okay"

He nodded and murmured. "I love you too" She smiled and watched her husband walk down the aisle.

Troy walked up towards the speakers and pulled the connected microphone towards him, a loud screech went throughout the room. Everyone commented quietly, trying to hide the horrible noise. Troy took a few shaky breaths which could be heard throughout the room because his mouth was near the microphone. His eyes were fixed only on a brunette woman who smiled though her tears, giving him two thumbs up.

"Uh, when I was little, I remember my mom scolding me when I was four years old because I slapped a girl's butts for some reason" He began trying to add some humor in his speech. "And I also remember my dad teaching me and my best friend from preschool us to play basketball and when I threw the ball, instead of the hoop, it bounced on Chad's head and he cried I want my mommy, I want my mommy" Troy continued with a slight chuckle.

"They were really the best parents in the world. You could have not gotten better parents than mine. My mom was a beautiful woman who accomplished many things in her life and for that I look up to her. My dad was a great man who had good sportsmanship and was a really good player in basketball and for that I looked up to him too. They were my heroes. My dad told me his favorite quote one day before the final championship game in my senior year of high school. He said that never let the fear of striking out keep you from playing the game and from that day on it became my favorite quote because I thought it suited me" His voice cracked, as he tried to blink back tears. He continued to tell himself not to cry, he couldn't show how he truly felt. Not here, at least.

"Unfortunately for them, they got into a car accident on my 27th birthday-" He couldn't take it anymore so he looked away. He could feel them coming. He covered his eyes with his arm, in an effort to shield the tears. However they began to fall freely from his somber ocean blue eyes. Troy let out a sob which could be heard though the microphones. He didn't plan on letting it out here or so soon but the feelings he had contained were forcing their way out. All of the anger, frustration, and confusion he felt were slowly coming out.

Everyone began crying along with him, feeling sympathetic for Jack and Lucille's only child who was standing up in front of the funeral home desperately trying to finish his speech but ended up bawling his eyes out.

Gabriella fought back every urge to cry she had, wanting to be strong for Troy. But she felt happy that Troy was finally letting out some of his feelings.

The twins just stared in shock as they watched their own father cry for the first time in front of them. They wished their dad would stop crying. It was horrible for them.

Troy wiped his tears away but the tears kept coming. He sniffled and continued in between sobs and sniffled. "You'll never know what its like to get a phone call on your birthday saying that your parents got into an accident. You'll never feel the emptiness in your heart when you actually realize you'll never see them again in person. I enjoyed the time I spent with him and the memories with them will be cherished in my heart forever. I miss you and love you mom and dad" he choked out finally finishing his speech.

Troy swiftly walked back to his seat covering his eyes. Gabriella scooted to make room so he could sit next to her. He sat down and covered his face on Gabriella's shoulder, weeping.

By the time he calmed down everyone was heading outside to watch Mr. and Mrs. Bolton get buried.

Tears burned his eyes again when he heard his son ask Gabriella "Mommy, why is Grandpa and Grandma getting buried up?"

"Well, its time for them to go" She answered as a few tear drops made their way down her face. She wiped them quickly, wanting to be strong.

The heartbreaking look in Troy's glassy eyes as he watched the caskets get lowered finally sent a message to the children. They began to realize what was going on began to cry. Gabriella quickly tried to ease their worries as Troy stayed unmoving, not breaking away from the graves.

As dirt was being put to fill up the graves, Troy Jr. gazed at his father and questioned "Are you going to be ok daddy?"

Troy managed to croak out, his eyes not looking at his son. "Yeah, daddy's going to be okay"

"Good" He hugged his dad's legs as the burial began to end.

* * *

After everything finished Troy stood there, still looking at the graves. He had not moved, nor had his eyes shifted, he just remained there. He hadn't acknowledged his friends and relatives as they passed, expressing their condolences. He just stood there, frozen. After about fifteen minutes Gabriella made an effort to pull him away. When he wouldn't move she sighed and walked back to the car with the kids. They waited patiently for another half an hour until Troy entered the car, on the passenger side. Silently, he handed over the keys and she took the hint. The eerie silence remained as they drove back home.

Gabriella groaned when she saw a few reporters outside of their house. _This can't end well _she thought. Gabriella got out and took the kids out of the car, allowing them to quickly scurry into the house. Gabriella walked slowly, waiting on Troy. As soon as he was behind her she grabbed his hand and walked up the footpath, trying to ignore the questioning.

"Troy, are you going to be returning to the court anytime soon"

"Troy, how are you holding up"?

"Troy, now that your parents are out of the picture is going to be easier for you to focus?"

This last question set Troy off. He released him self from, his wife and heatedly walked toward the direction of the reporter and put his finger centimeters away from the petrified face of the man.

"Don't you _ever_ say that my parents were a distraction!" Troy snarled. "You have no idea how much they've helped me do as well as I do in those games. So before you make a wild accusation again, think, or else I won't be so lenient"

Troy then turned and walked back into the house slamming the door behind him. Gabriella was sitting by the living room bay window, in perfect view or Troy's burst of anger. She observed him mutely, as he paced in the main hall before storming up the stairs and slamming the door behind him.

Sighing, she headed into the kitchen and made a sandwich for the children and herself and then headed back into the living room. Making sure to occupy her self so she doesn't have time to think, she looked around the room searching for imperfection. Giving up she settled for watching television with her children.

Within the next hour all three of them heard a lot of noise from upstairs. They ignored it but then looked toward the stairs when they heard an upstairs door swing open.

"Gabriella!" Troy bellowed from the top of the stairs. She quickly made her way up the stairs and into the bedroom only to find the room in complete disarray. Papers strewn across the floor, a pile of clothes on the bed and the closet completely empty.

"Where is the box I had with my parents' old photo album?" Troy asked from inside the closet. Gabriella began to think but could not recall of ever having one.

"Troy, we don't have one. All of that stuff is still at your parents' house. You haven't gone to get anything yet" Gabriella informed him. He walked out of the closet and headed toward the dresser. He had changed out of his clothes and into a pair of sweat pants and a plain white t-shirt.

"No it's not, I remember having it" he disagreed "Now where is it?"

"Troy…It was never here" Gabriella sighed putting her head in her hands.

Aggravated, Troy kicked the drawer closed, breaking the handle. Gabriella jumped, taken back by theses sudden spurs of anger. He walked up to Gabriella and gently touched the side of her face his anger subsiding. She flinched, not expecting such a soft touch at the moment.

"I'm sorry" he whispered, lifting her chin up to face him. Just as she was going to melt into his arms she snapped out of it and pushed his hand away.

"Are you going to talk to someone, I've been trying to make appointments—"

"I'm talking to you, aren't I?" Troy retorted, turning his head.

"Someone other than me though" Gabriella added, turning back Troy's head.

"No" Troy said plainly. "I'm fine, and if you don't think I am then you're not" Troy said simply, sitting atop the clothes on the bed.

"What are you trying to say?" she questioned.

"That perhaps I'm not the one that's going crazy" Troy said, his eyes darting the other way.

"Okay Troy this whole cynical act is not going too well for you" Gabriella commented, walking toward the door.

"Maybe it's not an act. Maybe its how I want to be now" Troy snapped, lying back onto the bed.

"Right" Gabriella said sarcastically walking out of the room, both longing for the other's company as soon as the door closed.

* * *

Later that night the family ate silently at the dinner table, Troy and Gabriella staring at their plates the entire time and the children nervously glancing up at their parents. After dinner Gabriella remained in the kitchen cleaning, while the kids were upstairs getting ready for bed. Troy sat on the steps aimlessly looking up at the ceiling, his hand on his chin. Suddenly he got up and put on his sneakers at the door. Then he grabbed a light jacket and was about to turn the knob but stopped when he heard a voice at the top of the stairs.

"Where ya going?" Brie asked innocently, rubbing her eye with one hand.

Troy hesitated. "To the…store, yeah. Just going to the store" he lied, walking back to the bottom of the stairs.

"Can I go?" she asked, her lips turning into a pout. He wasn't in the right mood to give into that though.

"No sweetie, daddy needs to go alone, okay?" he objected, his voice stern and assertive.

"Yes daddy" she answered sadly, walking back to her room.

Troy sighed in relief and attempted to leave again but heard someone clear their throat behind him.

"Going somewhere?" his wife queried, she could hear him curse underneath his breath.

"Just to the store" he replied, not turning around.

"I'm not Brie, I know you're lying" she countered. He scoffed at this.

"And how would you know if I'm lying?" he snapped at her.

"You're not looking me in the eye" she smirked. He grew irritable.

"Well that's because I want to leave this household peacefully" he said through gritted teeth.

"Well you know what Troy, leave" Gabriella requested, it hurt her to say that but she awaited his response.

"So now you _want_ me to leave" he asked her, a small amount of disbelief in his voice. She didn't reply, she had her back was toward him.

"I'll be back" Troy announced before he exited, making sure not to slam the door this time.

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**A/N Samantha1024: Sorry we haven't updated but we will make up for it!. Prepare for the next  
chapter. Review!!**


	7. Under The Weather

**The Secret Lives Of The American Teenager**

**Disclaimer: Seriously?.**

**A/N Hey, guys, sorry for not updating since February??. There's so much shit going on that I just didn't feel like dealing with updating plus I'm addicted to Sims 3. Btw, I'm gonna upload a video on Youtube probably later today or probably somewhere around this coming week. Also, I'd like to thank you for the reviews for the last chapter. Keep them coming and I also hope that you didn't forget about this story. Okay, probably you have but whatever. Lastly, I'm disappointed with the number of reviews when I updated music will keep us together so make me not disappointed by reviewing. Thanks. Enjoy.**

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Troy took a sip from the drink the bartender had given him. He wasn't sure what it was but it was supposed to rid you of all your problems. He certainly had a lot of problems right now. New problems had spawned from the old ones and now here he was in a bar he had never been to, attempting to drink away his problems. He laughed as he pictured Gabriella scolding him for being here— and for drinking on top of that.

"What's so funny?" a guy sitting beside him asked.

"Oh nothing" Troy replied shaking his head. He peered at the man from the corner of his eye. The man was in business attire and had a jaded expression on his face.

"Is that right? So randomly laughing in a bar is normal?" the guy questioned. Troy turned to him.

"Nothing in my life is normal right now" Troy sighed, gulping down the last but of alcohol in his glass.

"Welcome to the club" The guy said, passing the bartender a fifty dollar bill. "Let me get two of my usual"

The bartender passed Troy and the man a clear liquid and Troy gazed and it curiously.

"What is this?" Troy asked picking up the glass.

"A mix of a margarita, cosmopolitan, and a martini" the guy answered taking a sip from his cup.

Troy drank a mouthful and immediately felt the strength of the drink. The man beside him laughed.

"You don't drink much do you?"

"I used to, but I haven't in a while" Troy admitted, drinking some more.

"Well this is the best thing to get you back into drinking" the man told him, shaking his drink.

Troy paused. Did he really want to get back into this? Not remembering the night before, doing things you'll regret later… he actually wasn't sure. The real question was: Would it help him with his problems?. He knew the answer.

"Well you know what, I don't know if I want to start drinking again" Troy said, finishing off the last of his drink.

"Well it sure doesn't look like it judging by the way you gulped down that drink" the man noted. Troy looked away, this man was right and he knew it. Thankfully his phone rang, giving him a chance to step away.

"Troy where are you?" a worried Gabriella asked as soon as he picked up the phone.

"I'm…with Chad" he lied, thinking of something to back up his fib.

"You're lying to me" she told him, rather than asking.

"Why would I do that Ella?" he asked her.

"Troy I called Chad. He's at home with the baby…you're not there" she revealed causing to groan.

"I'll be home soon, okay?" Troy said, not answering her question.

"Why won't you tell me where you are?" She persisted. Troy quickly became irritated.

"It's not important where I am…I will be home soon" he said through gritted teeth.

"Troy you've been gone for about two hours" Gabriella stated.

"I know that" he snapped "I just need some time to myself. Time to think and not have you checking in on me every second"

She stopped herself from replying, not wanting to argue with him. Sensing the tension he finished off the conversation.

"I'll be there soon" he said before hanging up. He headed back to the bar stool and called the bartender over.

"Let me get another one of those" he said, meaning the drinking he had earlier. The man beside him grinned.

"You and me man, we're going to have some fun" the man said, his voice slightly slurred.

Troy didn't argue, instead he began to drink as soon as the glass was placed in front of him. He just nodded, wanting to do anything to get his mind off things.

* * *

Troy awoke, the bright sunlight nearly blinding his eyes. He felt the cold, hard concrete beneath him. His head throbbed as if a hammer was hitting him repeatedly. It was an unbearable pain.

What the hell? Where was he? What happened the night before? His eyes searched around, looking for answers. He finally realized he was lying outside of the bar on the sidewalk just beside the parking lot.

Now what was he going to say to his wife once he gets home, he crashed at Chad' place? Troy figured that Gabriella must've called Taylor or anyone else wondering where he was. He found the strength to lift himself up and regain his composure.

As soon as he got up, Troy began to feel a little light headed and nauseous. Troy took another step, and then he fell to the floor. He winced, as his skin collided against the concrete, creating a minor bruise. Where was an aspirin when he needed one?

For the second time, he picked himself up and walked slowly to his car; he lost his balance and almost fell but caught himself holding the car's handle. Ugh, he felt like throwing up. But Troy tried to shake the feeling away. He wasn't used to having a hangover since the last time he had gotten completely drunk which was about three years ago. He regained his breath before opening the door and brought himself in. He sat in his seat, slamming the door behind. He took a deep breath, feeling the urge to throw up or fall asleep.

Troy put the keys into the slot, turned the engine on, and then buckled his seat belt. He pressed the pedal and backed out of the parking a lot and drove away.

While driving Troy collected his thoughts, trying to figure out what had happened last night. He whacked his brain then remembered about the fight and him going into the bar to have a drink; but then it all was a complete blur. Right now, Troy couldn't care less about what had happened when he drunk, considering he had to come up with an excuse as to why he hadn't come home last night.

Troy felt something come up his throat. He forced himself not to throw up, at least not on the car ride home. Once he arrived to his destination, Troy felt utterly sick, still trying to get the rid of his urge to throw up. He turned the engine, unbuckled his seat belt, and threw the door open, sliding himself out of the car. He slammed his car door shut, feeling dizzy; he put his hand against the car door, as he tried to balance himself. Seconds later, he recovered and took slow steps to the front porch which took about 2 minutes.  
He put his hands on the front door and unlocked it. He managed to quietly open the door and walked inside, closing it behind him.

"Daddy's home!" A cute, high pitched voice echoed from the kitchen.

Just by the loud scream, Troy's headache worsened, he felt something come up even more in his throat. Suddenly, the two kids ran out of the kitchen and into the main hallway and grinned at the sight of their father.

A second later his wife slowly entered the main hallway, watching her husband as he took one step further into the hall; managing to crack a fake smile he stumbled a bit as his kids threw their arms around his legs.

Troy didn't feel so hot; he felt something coming up real fast. Troy turned his head where it didn't face his kids. He finally threw up and to make matters worse, he threw up in front of his whole family.

"Eww, gross daddy!" his children exclaimed, releasing their grasp and running back into the kitchen.

Troy leaned back against the wall for support, watching out for his mess. Unable to watch him any longer Gabriella walked over to him and wrapped an arm around his waist, helping him up the stairs. She made sure to look away the entire time, not only because of his breath but she knew the more she examined him the more she realized the truth. He was not getting better. Getting worse would be the more accurate term.

When they reached the bedroom she gently laid him in the bed and he immediately pulled the covers over him, turning to the side. It was clear that he would not be able to talk to her now. She walked out of the room, her face expressing no emotion and went back to her children, passing the mess she would have to clean up soon.

* * *

Later that day Gabriella returned home from work. She was ready to deal with what was upstairs and she knew just what to do.

"Hey Tay" Gabriella greeted when she called the Danforth household.

"Hey Gabs, what's up?" Taylor answered.

"I was wondering if you and Chad could watch the twins tonight" Gabriella asked.

"What, you and Troy have some plans tonight?"

Gabriella smirked "Something like that"

"Ok, well sure. Do you need us to pick them up too?" Taylor questioned just as her son began crying in the background.

"Yes, that would be great. Thanks Tay"

"Anytime Gabs, I'll talk with you later." Gabriella hung up and walked into the kitchen.

She poured a glass of water and went upstairs. Attempting to be silent she placed the cup on the end table beside the bed and went to get some Tylenol from the medicine cabinet. On her way back she stopped in the doorway. Troy was sitting up, already drinking the water.

"Before you finish it off, take these" Gabriella advised as she handed him the caplets.

"Thank you" he said after swallowing the pills and drinking the water.

She went over to pick up the glass and Troy held her arm. To his surprise she flinched and as she turned to look at him he saw the look in her eyes. Behind the anger and disappointment, he could see a tinge of fear, something he never thought he would be the cause of again.

"Gabriella" he breathed, wishing he could stand up and pull her into a close embrace.

"Don't" she said, harshly pulling her arm away. Walking out, she slammed the door behind her resulting in a groan from Troy.

Gabriella sat down at the top of the stairs as tears began to fall. She could not believe what he did. Lying, drinking, and coming home a wreck. She could no longer pretend it didn't bother her. In addition, she had no good memories of Troy while he was drunk. Solely bad ones remained, and they began to resurface in her mind. Before she could think more about the old memories, her cell phone rang.

"Hey Gabs, I'm calling to find out what happened" Taylor stated before Gabriella could say hello.

"What are you talking about?" Gabriella asked.

"Troy threw up? Is he okay?"

Gabriella sighed "Yeah he's fine… actually no he's really not. He left last night and didn't come back until this morning. He went out and got drunk" Gabriella's voice was breaking.

"He's pushing me away, getting drunk, next thing you know he'll go back to his old ways and…and" She couldn't finish her sentence. She didn't even want to think about the possibility that he could go back to his old ways.

"Gabs calm down, just go talk to him"

"Talking won't do anything. Neither of us want to talk!" she exclaimed.

"Well I know you don't want to but you have to make him talk" Taylor suggested.

"How do you suppose I do that?"

"Well hangovers are never fun are they?" Taylor said, causing Gabriella to think. "Go get him girl"

Gabriella laughed and hung up the phone. Her head high, she walked back into the room. Troy was lying on his back, looking up at the ceiling.

"Can't sleep?" Gabriella asked. Troy shook his head.

"Well perfect because now we're going to talk" Gabriella said sitting beside him the bed.

Troy turned in the other direction. "I don't want to talk right now"

"Well that's unfortunate" Gabriella scoffed. "We wouldn't be in this problem if you just stayed home last night"

"And do what Ella? Listen to you chastise me about what is right and wrong and then tell me the right way to heal?" Troy said, making sure to keep his voice low.

Gabriella walked over to the bathroom and slammed the door, resulting in another groan from Troy.

"Why?!" Troy exclaimed, regretting it soon after.

"Oh I'm sorry, am I giving you a head ache?" she asked in an overly sweet tone, standing at the edge of the bed.

"I know you're mad. I know you're disappointed in me and hey, I am too, but you don't have to take it out on my brain" Troy told her calmly.

"Well apparently you weren't using it when you went out and came back drunk" Gabriella reasoned, crossing her arms.

"I'm not drunk"

"Oh right it's a hangover. That makes everything so much better" Gabriella snorted.

"Ok what's with this whole arrogant façade of yours? Where's my Ella?" Troy asked, turning to her.

"Well this is what you're turning her into; do you really want that?" Gabriella questioned, her tone softening.

"No, not at all" he replied, reaching out for her.

"Well then you better not do it again" Gabriella walked out of the room, intentionally slamming the door behind her. Troy covered his face with a pillow, releasing a frustrated sigh into the pillow.

Gabriella sat at the kitchen table, letting her thoughts go wild. There was one major thought going through her mind. What's next?

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**A/N Samantha1024 and i hope you really enjoyed this chapter. Do us both a favor and click that purple button, we know you want to, we know you can't resist reviewing this story. We really like feedback. So, a million times please that you review. Anyway, i want just wanted to let you know that i have a twitter page, my name is 2pinkstarbabii, i'll keep you in the know about my stories and this story that's co-written with Samanta1024 (Read her story Tears Of A WildCat, its a really awesome story that'll keep you on the edge of your seat) And anything else that's related, so yeah. Other then that, please click that purple button and please send us feedback!.**

**Stay HSMLICIOUS**

**2pinkstarand7blackberry (:**


	8. Important AN

**I am soooooooooooooooooooooooo sorry for not updating for the past couple of months. Unfortuantely during the summer in July, my internet didn't work. We did everything including callling for the technican and my dad was on the phone for THREE hours trying to fix it. I apoliqize for the long wait. I really am. I don't know when the next chapter will be up because I'm not allowed to use my dad's laptop (but I'm sneaking anyway). But I'll try to get in a chapter within the next month. I can't a promise though. So yeah. Again I AM really sorry & I'm pretty sure that a lot of you forgot this story & I don't blame you.**

**Xoxoxo**

**2pinkstar**


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